Crash, Crash
by BundyShoes
Summary: A rewrite of the second movie. This will be a series that will continue in another story for the third movie and so forth. Logan/Rogue, Pyro/Kitty, Charles/Raven, some Scott/Storm, and will have Gambit/Jubilee later on in the series. NOW COMPLETE- SEQUEL COMING SOON.
1. Chapter 1

_Another rewrite of the movies, except this is my version of the second movie. The main couples will be Logan/Rogue, John/Kitty, Scott/Storm, and later on it'll be Remy/Jubilee. I will be continuing this in another story; it'll be called "Let It All Burn". Just to clarify for those who care, these titles come from the song: "Hurricane" by 30 Seconds to Mars. It is a great song, and I'd recommend it to anyone! xD_

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><p>Chapter 1:<p>

Kitty usually enjoyed field trips like this. She'd usually be soaking up the knowledge and the history of the museum with flourish and relish.

But of course she couldn't because stupid John and his stupid lighter.

Her, John, Rogue, Jubilee, and Bobby had all grouped together once they had gotten to the museum, heading towards the food court to 'just chill' as Bobby had put it. They had just been joking around, acting like normal, when John decides its okay to take out his trusty Zippo and mess with his fire.

You know, because apparently it's okay to manipulate fire with your mind in public places. It's not suspicious at all.

Pardon her sarcasm.

So anyway, it's no surprise when a couple of jerks catch sight of this guy holding fire in his bare hand and decide to come over.

And here we are.

"Hey, my brother asked you a single question," the, what Kitty assumed to be, sidekick of the two said. The 'leader' spoke up then, "Why you being such a dick?" Like a puppy, the other continues with this thought, "Yea, why you being such a dick?"

John kind of is being a dick. He's just sitting there, smirking like he's some kind of badass or something.

His answer of course, is: "Because I can."

God, she should've known he'd ruin today somehow.

She leans toward Jubes, whispering, "Well, today's been _shot_."

Jubilee snorts and pops her gum, "Oh, c'mon, chica," she leans over, too, "This could prove to be entertaining." The Asian grinned over at Kitty, and in response she rolled her eyes. Of course Jubilee would find this to be funny.

Back over to the 'situation' she hears the 'leader' asking for a light.

John, who's on her left, stares at his lighter in contemplation, like he's actually thinking about lending his lighter to these losers.

"Hmmm…." He opens it, letting the flame linger…then snaps it shut "I don't think so."

Kitty rolled her eyes, "John, don't be a jerk." She stills when he turns his gaze over to her.

He grins, "What's the matter, Kitten? Afraid of a little fire?" Kitty scoffed, "You wish, John."

His smirk _widens_, if that's even possible, "And you fantasize."

Heat rushes to her face in an instant, and she hates it. She can hear Jubilee choking on her gum from laughing so hard. 'Well,' she thinks, 'I'm glad someone's enjoying this.'

"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" John laughs. Kitty glares at him, but she doesn't think it did much damage thanks to her red-covered face. Jubilee has fallen off her chair by now.

She hates him sometimes.

"Shut up, John," she snaps. John 'shudders', "Ooh, Kitten's got claws," he snaps his lighter open and shut, almost reflexively. She blushes even more, and tightens her arms across her middle.

Bobby seemed to have enough of John antics, "John, knock it off."

John reluctantly tears his gaze from Kitty to the Iceman. "Oh, what, for her?" he gestures at Rogue, who at the moment is getting checked out by the 'sidekick'. She notices and at his suggestive-eyebrow-wiggle she gives a snort of disbelief. John continues, "I can't help it if your girlfriend is getting all excited."

At that Kitty mentally scoffed.

Bobby rolls his eyes this time, "I don't think she's getting excited."

Jubilee snorted, "That's for sure." Kitty watched, amused, as the Asian girl righted herself in her seat, popping her gum loudly.

Ice ignored her, while Fire looked at her with a smirk. Kitty caught his eye, and smiled.

While his attention was diverted, the 'leader' leaned forward and snatched John's lighter.

"Hey!" Whipping his head around, John's reaction was quick as he rose to his feet to go after his precious cargo. The sidekick was also quick as he stepped in front of John, blocking him.

Kitty sat up, sharing a look with Rogue and Jubilee. This could get out of hand really fast; she sat on the edge of her seat, readying for that occurrence.

The leader who had John's Zippo took out a cigarette and lit it, keeping a smug gaze on John. John scoffed, "That's real cute, man."

The leader replied by blowing smoke, "Suddenly you're not so tough." It hit John in the face and she watched as he closed his eyes and laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. She slowly stood up, putting her hand on the table. The others followed except for Bobby; he sat with his arms crossed watching with a furrowed brow and a scowl, but she could still see his muscles tensed.

John wasn't smirking anymore, but had a mischievous look in his eye. He swayed back a little, leaning on one leg, tongue in cheek.

"You hear that, Kitten?"

Kitty started, not expecting him to talk to her at this moment. She accidentally stood straighter, watching him with wide eyes.

He turned to look at her over his shoulder, "He doesn't think I'm that tough." She blinked at him, confused. This caused him to smirk, and she narrowed her eyes, a sinking feeling in her gut.

"Jo-" she began, starting towards him.

He winked at her, and at that moment a burst of fire shot from the cigarette in the leader's mouth, catching him on fire. He started freaking out, trying to pat it out. He wasn't looking where he was going, and ended up falling on a table behind him.

By this time everyone was watching and Bobby jumped to his feet finally. He pushed his arm out, and a stream of ice flew from his hand onto the boy on the ground, putting out the fire and frosting him at the same time.

John was laughing; holding his stomach and everything. She rolled her eyes and marched forward, grabbing his jacket sleeve, ready to give him a piece of her mind, when she noticed something.

Time was stopping.

Everyone around them was freezing, the two boys stopped moving, the people stopped walking and talking.

"What did you do, Bobby?" Rogue asked, standing behind the frozen sidekick and poking his shoulder.

Bobby looked bewildered, "I didn't do it."

"I did."

All five mutants turned to the voice. A wheelchair pulled into their view and all were caught in the Professor's stern gaze. Kitty dropped hers, ashamed to be the recipient of this look.

"The next time you feel like showing off," he fixed his eyes on John, "don't." In her peripheral vision, she could see John lower his head slightly, and she tugged softly on his sleeve that was still between her fingers.

He didn't give any indication that he felt her, except for a slight softening around his eyes.

Before the Professor could say anything else, a news report stating that the President has been attacked came on. They say it was done by a mutant.

"I think we should leave, Professor," Scott spoke up. Kitty looked over and realized that everyone had now gathered in the food court. Scott, Jean, and Storm stood in front of them all, looking a degree of worry.

"I think you're right," the Professor replied.

They all filed out into the hallway, and she, surprise surprise, found herself walking next to John.

When she looked over at him, though, he looked somber, and the light that was in his eyes just minutes ago was gone. She hated when he looked like this, and she suddenly got an urge to get rid of that serious expression.

She got an idea.

She hid her smile, and kept looking forward, "John," she began, "you are such a prick."

Without missing a beat, he pushed her to the right. She phased through the wall, and found herself on the other side, a little dazed.

She looked at the wall she just came through and paused. She smiled.

* * *

><p>Rogue was bored. After they got back, the five were told they'd be getting a quiz for what they learned at the museum: a punishment for the stunt John pulled.<p>

So they got their stuff and started studying in the rec room. But this plan to actually do schoolwork wasn't working very well, and they had all zoned out pretty quickly.

She felt a tap on her arm and when she looked that way she saw Bobby holding his right hand to her. She gave him a questioning look. "Thumb wrestle?"

She arched a brow, something that her inner-Logan allowed her to do, and slowly put her hand in his, getting her thumb ready.

Things got pretty intense soon, mini-Logan being competitive and all.

"Oh, you are so going to lose!" Bobby maneuvered his hand this way and that, trying to best her, but she was good at this, she had Erik's game skills to use at her dispense.

She laughed though, and allowed him to think he had the upper hand. She noticed that his hand stopped moving and looked up, wondering what was wrong.

He was staring at her. She knew that look. He'd given it to her so many times since she agreed to go out with him.

He wanted to kiss her.

She's told him a thousand times that she doesn't want to hurt him; that she doesn't want to give him a dose of her mutation, but he doesn't listen. She'd tell him and then he'd back off for a bit, but then gets right back in her personal space again. She hates it, because what she tells him is the truth.

Well…it's part of the truth.

He was still staring at her when she cut off her line of thought. "I don't want to hurt you," she whispered as she back up some. It was starting to get a little old, repeating that line, but he really wouldn't stop.

He stopped, and then shrugged, smiling, "I'm not afraid."

She knows that's a lie. She can smell the fear on him. But he's a guy, and his hormones come first. But she thinks that maybe…she should let him. He should see firsthand that her mutation isn't one to be trifled with.

So she stays put, allowing him to come closer. She even starts to close her eyes, keeping up the illusion of his girlfriend.

He's a whisper away from her lips when something pulls her away.

She ignores the confused look on Bobby's face, trying to listen carefully.

There it is. The sound of a motorcycle engine pulling onto the school grounds.

She whips her head back to Bobby, a giant grin growing on her face. She disregards the annoyed look on his face when she gets up and runs out the door.

She dashes out of the rec room, running around the corners, dodging people, trying to hurry to the front door, wanting to be the first he sees when he opens the doors.

She reaches her destination, and just in time to see him swinging open the doors.

"Logan!" She strides towards him, and when she's close enough, swings her arms around his neck. She smiles even more when he wraps his around her waist, holding her to him. She gives a slight squeeze then reluctantly lets go, pulling back to grin up at him.

He looks happy to see her.

"Hey kid, you miss me?" he smirks.

She crinkles her nose, mostly at the 'kid', and shakes her head, "Naw, not really." When he gives her 'the eyebrow', she let's go of the fake frown and smiles widely at him.

"How are you?" he gets a little serious, only a tiny curl at the edge of his mouth and a light in his eye to show he's genuinely happy.

She downsizes her grin, but still gazes at him warmly, "I'm good, how 'bout you?"

He shrugs, and then his gaze gets caught on something behind her. She's disappointed to see the light diminish from his eyes, but when she sees what he's frowning at, she understands why.

He gestures with his chin, "Who's this?"

Rogue shoots Bobby a glance, "This is Bobby. He's my-" "I'm her boyfriend." Bobby forcefully interrupts, holding his hand out. "But you can call me Iceman."

Logan reluctantly shakes the proffered hand and she's shocked to see his hand turn blue.

Bobby was freezing his hand.

A rage blooms inside her, how dare Bobby? She doesn't let on about her inner turmoil, but simply pastes a smile and shoves her elbow subtly in Bobby's ribcage.

She was pleased to see Logan's hand rapidly turn pink and back to normal: his healing ability kicking in. He clenched his hand, getting the feeling back. "Boyfriend, huh?" He shot a glare at Bobby, and then turned a look at her, seeing her anger hidden in her eye, and he smirked. She watched as he grew a smug look, and felt something tug at her gut.

"So, how do you two…you know?" His smirk widened at Bobby, and she had to hide a smile. That jerk. She watched as Bobby grew red and flustered. "Uh, well, we-"

Storm swooped down the stairs at that time, rescuing Bobby from his embarrassing situation. She smiled and greeted Logan, asking if he could babysit that night.

Watching as he didn't really answer her, but still agreed, she had to smile. She missed him. A lot. Talking with her inner-Logan could only provide so much comfort, it was still better to have the real deal. He hadn't changed a bit.

Another pair of heels clacking down the stairs jarred her from her thoughts.

"Hello, Logan."

Everyone looked up to see Jean 'gracefully' descending the staircase. She kept her gaze on Logan, and turning her head, she saw that Logan returned the redhead's gaze.

"Hey, Jean," Logan smiled. Rogue narrowed her eyes, studying his profile, watching his expression. His smile looked forced, but his eyes held a weird twinkle in them. She felt a small shred of dread curl in her stomach.

She vaguely heard Storm mutter something about checking up on the jet and walk away awkwardly. She didn't pay much attention, keeping her gaze locked on Logan, who in turn, had his on Jean. She felt a tugging on her arm, and felt herself being pulled backward. Bobby was pulling insistently on her, forcing her away from the Wolverine.

She didn't know what to do, Bobby was dragging her away, and Logan wouldn't even look at her, his attention stuck on the red head who was slowly making her way towards him.

"B-Bye, Logan," she called, hoping to at least divert his attention a little bit. "I-I'll talk to you later," she tried to dig her heels in the ground, to slow Bobby down some, but he kept dragging her. If her arm had bruises later, she swore…

Thankfully, Logan did turn and look at her when he answered, "Yea, okay." He connected eyes with her and what was in them caused her to let up on her resistance, letting Bobby fully pull her out of the room.

God, had she missed Logan.

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><p><em>So…this is my new fic….I started this about…half a year ago, actually, but I finally decided to end it. As I said, this will be a rewrite of the second movie, and I already started a fic for the third that'll pick up where this fic will leave off. The couples will be: LoganRogue, Pyro/Kitty, Scott/Storm, and then later on it'll be Gambit/Jubilee. Hope ya'll like this; I have no idea when the next one will be up._


	2. Chapter 2

_Next chapter! I decided to start this now, after I had finished the other, just 'cause I felt like it. :) I forgot to mention that none of this is mine, and it all belongs to Stan Lee and the people that created the films and such. Also, I forgot to add that that one scene between Kitty and John was from the original manuscript for the second film. Kitty was actually in the second one at first, during that scene and she had called him a prick and he'd pushed her through the wall :3 aren't they adorable? _

_And a little tidbit of info, I'm using Aaron's Pyro and Ellen's Kitty. For Jubilee I picture the girl in the film, she's in the deleted scenes and such, I think her name is Kea Wong. She's in both the third and the second actually. _

_Anywho, on with the story!_

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><p>After Bobby had not-so-nicely pulled her arm off, he had dragged her into an isolated hallway to yell at her.<p>

"Bobby, what the hell are you talking about?"

Bobby shot her an irritated look, "You know exactly what I mean. As soon as he walks in that door, you start cuddling up to him like a lost puppy, but you won't even _hug_ me! I'm your boyfriend and your-!"

"He means a lot to me, Bobby, he saved my life! What do ya want me ta do? Ignore 'im?" Rogue couldn't believe she was actually allowing her voice to escalate like this, her accent even coming out, over something so stupid. Why does it matter if she spends time with Logan?

Okay, she knows why, but Bobby doesn't. And yea, thinking over it, she knows it's mean of her to keep Bobby as a consolation prize, but…

She hasn't exactly had a normal life; she never got that normal boyfriend with the normal relationship. As much as her heart is pulling her another way, she needs to hold on to this small thing, just for the sake of normalcy.

So…she'll lie.

"Yes! Actually, I do. I want you to stop…whatever it is you're doing!"

She clenched her teeth, her Southern roots boiling to the surface at being told what to do. She can't get angry though, he is kind of right.

Bobby's eye caught something at that moment. Rogue watched as his irked features turned livid. She saw where his gaze went and knew this wouldn't turn out well.

"Why…do you have that around your neck? Isn't that his?" Bobby pointed angrily at Logan's dogtags that had fallen out from behind her shirt. She hurriedly pushed them back, defensive. "It's nothing, its fine. Don't worry."

He shot her an incredulous look, "'Don't worry'? _My girlfriend_ is wearing another _man_'s property tags, why should I not worry?"

"It's purely platonic! Besides, this doesn't matter! _We_ matter!" she desperately tried to switch subjects, to get away from this. Bobby paused, and had a thoughtful look on his face. She waited with baited breath. He finally spoke:

"We matter? Oh, really? Well, if _we_ matter, you'll give them back and tell him to leave you alone."

She stared at him in shock. This wasn't what she wanted. The tags she had around her neck represented something, something special, and she couldn't give that up. But…this 'thing' with Bobby made her feel 'normal'…

Bobby waited for her response.

Her inner-Logan was snarling and suggesting she claw his face off and curse him out. Inner-Erik was simmering because this little boy was trying to dictate them, but other than that he didn't speak. Her own mind was indecisive. What was she supposed to do?

She stood there for what seemed like hours, thinking, staring at Bobby, who returned her gaze.

Finally she looked down, and reluctantly nodded, "O-okay," she ignored his triumphant look, "I'll give it back next I see him."

Bobby smiled at her, "Thank you," he leaned forward to hug her or kiss her, she didn't know, but she leaned away, looking up from under her eyelashes. "I still don't want to hurt you, though."

Something flickered in his eyes, but he had won a battle, not a war, so he, thankfully, let it go. "Okay," he paused, smiling, "Have a good night." He patted her on the shoulder and then walked away.

She tried to push the feelings of hate and sorrow down and walked towards the room she shared with Kitty and Jubilee.

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><p>That night found all the children and staff asleep in their beds, all more or less sleeping peacefully. One of those not sleeping properly was Logan, who was tossing and turning and murmuring and sweating. He was in the throes of a nightmare.<p>

_A water tank. Scalpel. Military Men with champagne. Needles impaled in his skin. Pain. Absolute Pain in his hands. Something was growing in his arms, something-_

He jolted awake, finding himself not in the dark places of his patched memory, but sitting up in his bed at the mansion. He let out a sigh, passing a hand over his face. He wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon so he got up and headed out to roam the halls.

On his way he passed by the rec room and noticed that the TV was still on. Walking further in the room, he saw a boy sitting on the couch, every blink the kid made changing the channel. He leaned against the doorjamb, watching for just a few minutes.

"Couldn't sleep?" the kid asked without looking up. Logan tilted his head, studying the tiny mutant. "How can ya tell?"

The kid finally turned his head and looked at him through his large glasses, "Because you're awake."

Logan nodded his head in agreement. "Yea, how 'bout you?"

The kid turned back to the TV, a shadow passing over his young face, "I never sleep."

Logan nodded again. A brief stab of pity hit him, before it left. Everyone has some sort of disability with their mutation. This was just this kid's.

He continued on his nightly walk.

He could smell the icicle before he could see him. The boy was in the kitchen wallowing in his teenage emotions. Before he could change his mind and turn back he walked in the room, "Doesn't anyone in this place sleep?"

The kid shrugged, lightly scraping his spoon around in the ice cream bin. "Apparently not."

Logan bypassed him to the cabinets and the refrigerator, looking for beer that he knows won't be there, but looks anyway. "Got any beer?" he throws out.

The kid gives him a funny look and retorts: "This is a school." Logan feels a growl build up, but squashes it. This stupid kid may be…_not_ his favorite person in the world, but he's Rogue's boyfriend. And no matter how much he hates it and him, he can't start anything. He knows how much this means to her, and he won't ruin it.

He tosses a "Is that a no?" out, playing dumb for the sake of niceties, no matter how much it makes bile rise in his throat. The kid laughs at him, "Yea, that's a no." but the kid redeems himself slightly by pointing out where the soda is.

After getting a bottle he opens the top with his bare hands, pausing, considering the drink in his hands. 'What the hell, he has to be good for something', and with that thought he holds out the bottle to the kid. The kid's been around long enough to know what's being asked of him, and he chills it for Logan.

Logan sits down, taking sips from his soda, trying to sort through the nightmare. He makes small talk with the kid, even though he'd rather pluck out his mutton chops than make friends with this guy. Then, all of a sudden, the subject of Rogue comes up. Which isn't surprising given the circumstances.

It's that he's the one to broach it that's shocking.

"So, you and Rogue, huh?" he lifts an eyebrow. Bobby nods yes, "Yea, but it's not what you'd think. I'd like it to be, but-"

The kid cuts himself off, his sentence not needing to be finished for Logan to realize what the kid meant. Logan cocks his head and gives him a look. Bobby looks scared as hell and Logan gives himself a mental pat on the back.

The kid backtracks, "I mean, it's hard when you wanna be closer to someone...but you can't." A look passes over the icicle's face, and Logan can smell the anger and jealousy on the younger guy. He stifles a chuckle.

The kid opens his mouth and it wipes the smirk off Logan's face.

"You know, I've seen how you look at Dr. Grey."

_What the hell does that mean?_

Logan wonders what this kid's endgame is. He knows that his 'coming onto' Jean has reached the whole school, and he knows that the rumor is that he's in love with Jean or that he's interested in her, but…it's not true.

People don't really think he can use his mind or lie or put up an act. That's too bad for them but works to his advantage. He's been able to pull the wool over their eyes on the truth of his romantic feelings.

And…it's _not_ for Dr. Grey.

So he gives the kid a hard look, "Excuse me?"

The kid looks back down and give a little shrug, "Nothing,"

Logan narrows his eyes. This kid is trying to pull something over on him, and it's really starting to piss him off. What, is he trying to stake a claim on Marie?

_He can do that now, he's her boyfriend._

He shoves the voice away, ignoring the truth of it.

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><p>Somewhere in the mansion, the woman in question is lying awake. She's been thinking of what happened earlier with Bobby, and she wonders if she could've done something different, if this is right.<p>

And she keeps running into that proverbial brick wall-she can't change it anyway.

Rogue sighed and pushed the sheets away, trying half-heartedly to keep quiet for her roommates. She wasn't going to be able to sleep, not with these insistent thoughts running through her head.

She needed to talk to Logan.

She left her room as silently as she could, weaving her way through the halls on a path she knew by heart. Whenever she had a nightmare or she just wanted to be alone, she'd head to his room, knowing she'd find peace and quiet. His presence was still in there, regardless of the fact that he barely spent anytime there. But…she was still able to draw comfort from it despite that. But he was here now.

Or so she thought.

The room was empty when she got there, and a fist closed over her heart for a second before she rationalized that he was probably in the kitchen or taking a walk. He was supposed to be on watch duty after all. Besides, his stuff was still here, he wouldn't leave without his stuff…

She debated with herself for a moment, wondering if she should leave or wait. She knew if she left she'd just end up staying awake all night, and who knows when Logan would come back.

As she had her internal argument, the bed started looking comfier and comfier and her thoughts went down another avenue.

'Surely he wouldn't mind if I just lay down for a little while? I mean, I might wake up before he even gets back…' A growl piped up in her head: 'Hell no, darlin', you can sleep in my bed anytime! I sure as hell won't mind.' She blushed, causing the voice to chuckle. But…it was a part of him, maybe he would actually feel that way.

She shook her head. They were friends anyway, he would not mind if she took a small nap in his bed while waiting for him.

With her decision final, she crawled into his mussed bed, she tiredly fell into a cocoon of warmth. She immediately felt the nightmare fade away as her eyelids dripped closed. Surrounded by his sheets, halfway to dreams, only one thought drifted through her mind: _'It smells like him…'_

* * *

><p>Logan was busy trying to block out icicle's life story when he heard it.<p>

It was soft, barely noticeable and certainly impossible for a normal person to hear, but with his super senses it was like an alarm.

He held his hand up, silencing the boy.

The boy looked at him in confusion. "What is it?"

Logan shushed him and walked stealthily to the door. The boy got up and went to the window. He hated to do it, but the kid was gonna have to play the part of bait for a second.

He was right. Just then, a soldier decked out in hunting gear stepped in, his feet barely making a noise. As soon as he lifted his rifle, Logan came at him from behind, grabbing him, "You picked the wrong house, bub!"

* * *

><p>Kitty awoke with a start and frowned. That was the second time tonight, once at midnight when Jubilee got up and left. She assumed to the kitchen for a midnight snack.<p>

She looked over at her clock to see that it was only 2:30 in the morning. She let out an un-ladylike growl and turned to the door where the noise originated from, "What, Jubes, didja forget where the kitchen was-…."

It wasn't Jubilee. It was two men in stealth outfits and guns. Instinct took over as they shot at her, and all of a sudden she was falling.

* * *

><p>A piercing scream cut through the mansion, a sounding alarm thanks to Siren. Logan yelled out, but still held on to the guy, hearing the sound amplified because of his hearing. Bobby stood in front of him, and the soldier let of a round at him. The kid ducked while Logan tried pulling his aim wide.<p>

* * *

><p>Rogue jerked awake at Siren's scream, finding herself not in her bed, but Logan's. Remembering her little field trip, she quickly began to try to assess what was happening now. Footsteps outside the room alerted her to trouble and she quickly ran to the door, opening it and decided that the coast was clear. Students were running around everywhere, it was pure mayhem. She still had no idea who the enemy was, but obviously there was one.<p>

Instead of following everyone else, she went another way, dodging the rush of people. One thought repeated in her mind:

_I've gotta find Logan._

* * *

><p>The noise stopped, and Logan knew that the girl had been knocked out, or worse. The thought flew from his mind as he threw the soldier against the fridge, slamming his claws to the hilt in the man, screaming in his face like an animal.<p>

He retracted the claws and watched as the soldier fell lifelessly to the ground. He spun around, breathing heavily as he tried to reign in his anger. He caught sight of the boy hiding behind the island, and asked, "You alright?" the kid's meek nod made him want to laugh but he held it in. He needed to get moving.

He had to find Marie.

He parted ways with the icicle, heading down the hall, cutting down soldiers as he went, as silently as he could. He couldn't believe this would happen on his first night, on his own _watch_! The Professor was gonna kill him!

* * *

><p>A light hit her in the face as she landed and Kitty took off running, phasing through anything and everything. She passed through the billiard room and when she saw two more soldiers she sprinted through one into a wall, narrowly avoiding being hit by the ammunition. The wall led out to a hallway. There she could see on her right kids that were running down the hall perpendicular to where she was.<p>

Two kids caught her eye.

"John!" She screamed, "Bobby!" as an afterthought. The boys halted and turned towards her, one immediately sprinting to her, the other catching up.

"Kitty? You okay?" John stopped in front of her, looking her over for injuries with a once-over. Normally she'd reprimand him for that or blush about the fact that she was only wearing a long sleeved shirt (_his_ long-sleeved shirt) and a pair of sweatpants and she looked awful, but right now all she could do was panic.

"Yea, I'm fine! What's going on? What's with the men and the guns?" Kitty talked with her hands flying about. John shook his head, "They were in your room?"

She waved her hand, "That's beside the point, _what is happening?_" Bobby spoke up, "The mansion is under attack. That's all we know." Kitty stared at him in shock, not wanting the idea to be true.

"Look, we need to find Rogue. Where's Jubilee?"

Kitty shook her head, "I-I don't know…she went down for a midnight snack and I thought she was coming back, but instead it was…" she trailed off, they got the point.

Bobby nodded, "Okay, we'll split up, Kitty you go find Jubilee, and we'll get Rogue, we'll find you later, alright?"

She shook her head again, "Oh, no! we are not splitting up, we'll never see each other again. I'm not letting you leave, it's too dangerous."

John turned to Bobby, "You go ahead, I'll catch up." When Bobby had left, John turned back to her, putting his hands on her shoulders, "Look, we will find you after all this. You have to trust us."

Kitty looked back at him; tears were building up and she hated herself for that. But something told her that this conversation was important. "How can I?"

He stared into her eyes, unable to answer at first. Emotions flew through his brown orbs, some she could catch, some that slipped through her fingers. One stayed still: sincerity. In all the years she's known him, she could count with one hand the times he's shown sincerity to her or to anyone else.

He leaned closer, "Kitty…_I promise_." He gazed deeper, hoping she understood. "We will..._I_ will find you again." His thumbs smoothed her shoulders soothingly.

She searched his face, memorizing it. She hoped he kept his promise…God, did she hope…

She hesitantly nodded her head, "O-okay…I trust you…" she sent a small smile to him.

He nodded after a moment, and then dropped his arms. As he turned away, she did the same. But after a few steps she paused.

She had to…

Turning on her heel, she called out his name, "John!"

And when he turned back to face her, he didn't expect the rush of a body flinging itself at him. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him to her, clutching him. She buried her face in his shirt, "You better come back. _You better come back._"

His arms went around her, embracing her. She felt him press his nose into her hair. A pause. "I will." She stored this feeling away. Deep in the confines of her conscious.

And then she pulled away.

"Be careful," She placed her hand on his cheek, cradling it, and swiftly kissed his cheek, before turning and running in the opposite direction. She couldn't watch him leave.

She didn't know that that was the last time she'd see him.

* * *

><p>Rogue was running for her life. She had helped a few kids find the secret path, and hoped they made it, but other than that, she had been running. She was at this point in a deserted hallway, turning a corner, when she almost ran into Bobby and John. She recovered fast, "Guys, come on!" then she turned and went back the way she came.<p>

At the end of the hallway was a window, and they stopped when they saw shadows moving and voices.

Tick. Tick…_boom!_

Glass flew everywhere and she screamed. They all ran in the other direction before whoever was outside could reach them. They somehow found the front room that lead to the front door. A helicopter light shone on them and two soldiers jumped down with their guns trained on them.

They were caught.

* * *

><p>Kitty ran down the hallway, tears dried on her face, but she knew there were more beneath the surface. She pushed everything out of her mind though, her mission was to find her friend.<p>

She followed a group of kids near the rec room and saw a figure standing in the middle, staring up.

"Jubes!" Kitty uttered under her breath, racing to her friend. Right when she reached her though, the Eurasian crumpled to the floor. Before she could have time to react, something hit her in the back of the neck and then the floor rushed up to meet her. She blacked out before she reached it.

_John…_

* * *

><p>The soldiers kept the guns on them, creeping closer, but Rogue felt her senses prickle, Magneto reared up and ripped the guns from them. She heard a roar and when a figure dropped down in front of them, spearing the soldiers and tossing them away, she realized that the actual Logan had showed up.<p>

He lifted his head, his claws retracting. His eyes were black with anger and bloodlust, but she felt no fear. He stood up and gestured for them to move, "Let's go!"

They were almost at the entrance to the passageway that would lead to the garage. Footsteps followed them from behind. John opened the entrance and ran in, Bobby behind him. She was about to follow when she realized that Logan wasn't behind her. Turning swiftly to find him shutting the door, she screamed his name, flinging her body at the door in an attempt to stop it. But it was too late. She rested her head against the door, hearing him shout at the men, _"If you wanna shoot me, then shoot me!"_ , before slamming her hands against it in frustration. "Arrgh!" she ran after the boys.

"Wait! Wait, you guys, we gotta do somethin'! They're gonna kill him!" the boys stopped and turned, John held his arms out, "He can handle himself, let's go!"

She knew this would be pushing it, but she had to try. She had to help him, she just had too…"Bobby!"

He spun his head in her direction and she stared at him in desperation. "_Please!_" he stared at her, and she waited, heart thumping for his answer.

* * *

><p>Logan stared at the man in front of him, unable to recognize him but knowing, <em>knowing<em>, that he should. He had too. The man was going on and on about his life, about things that only someone who knew him would say.

The guy tilted his head, "Don't you remember?" he grinned and an image flashed through his mind. A jail cell, dirt, bright sunlight. But it went away as soon as it came.

He edged closer to him, still unsure, and although he knew this was the bad guy, he couldn't stop moving forward. His past…was right in front of him, the key to his life, his memory.

And then it was gone, and a sheet of ice was blocking him from sight. Looking around, he ran at the wall, hitting it, "No, _No!_" he ran his hands over it, staring at the man's silhouette. He was so close.

Rogue stared at him from where she was sticking out of the wall behind Bobby. She recognized the man; Logan's memory was more clearer in her mind. She felt a pang for Logan, knowing that he thought this was his chance to regain his memory. But they had to go.

"Logan…"

He heard her, he could hear her, but he couldn't look away from this man.

"Logan, come on we gotta go."

The man put his hand to the wall, and Logan mimicked it. Watching the blurred image, he slowly dropped his hand. He turned his head in their direction, "Go, I'll be fine!" And he turned back to the sheet of ice. Nothing on his mind except the urge to find his past.

"But we won't…" _I won't…_

He felt a jolt and realized what was happening, what was more important. He turned to look at her, at Marie. She met his gaze without flinching. His past could wait for now. He had a feeling he'd see this man again.

He headed for them, looking back to see the man putting something on the wall, what he could only guess as some sort of explosive. When he reached the entrance to the passage, they both darted in, letting him follow and close the entrance, making the outside seem like any other wall.

They ran to the garage, to the first car they came to. John headed for the driver's seat, but Logan pushed him aside, "Yea, maybe in a few years."

John rolled his eyes, and jumped in the back seat. Logan got in and started looking for the keys. Rogue piped up, "This is Scott's car." Logan sat up straight. "Oh, really?" he smirked and raised his hand. A single claw drew out and he stuck it in the key hole, starting the car.

They got the hell outta there. Turning onto the road and blazing out of there.

After a few minutes John spoke up, "What the hell was that back there?" Rogue watched Logan's face as he tried to piece something together.

The first thing that came to mind was a name, and it seemed to fit.

"Stryker. His name is Stryker."

Rogue stared at him, "Who is he?" Pain flashed across his face and she wished she could help. She'd known the name, but specifics still weren't very clear.

"I can't remember." She winced at the agony in his voice.

Silence overtook the car.

On the road, she tried covering herself up more. She was only wearing a black night gown with spaghetti straps. Yes, for the average girl it covered everything, in fact it was almost prudish, but for her it showed a lot of skin.

A lot of deadly skin.

Her hands stilled when they brushed them.

Logan's dogtags.

Her conversation with Bobby floated in her ear. She had promised him. She hated it but she had promised him. And…what better time to do it than now? When it was dark and she didn't have to look at him full on.

She slowly took them off, trembling and feeling for the world like she was pulling out her heart. She paused a second, cradling them before holding them out to him. "Here…these are yours." Her voice sounded so small. She hated it. She hated this. She looked up at him once and then turned away, unable to hold contact.

She felt his hand take them from her and it felt like a fist to the gut. She strongly wanted to cry, but she couldn't because of the small confines of the car. And even if she could, he'd know, the bastard.

God, she hated Bobby for doing this, for making her do this. The silence in the car made her head spin, it hurt her ears. She felt like she couldn't breathe.

God, she hated this…

All of a sudden something was going over her head and around her neck. The clinking told her exactly what it was. She wrapped her hands around them, looking over at him with dazed eyes.

He stared ahead at the road, looking over for only a second, eyes connecting for a charged moment, before he turned away. "I'm not technically home yet." And he left it at that, ending the conversation.

Forgetting that her boyfriend was in the same car, she felt a large grin split across her face. Relief spread through her, warming her and she looked down at the tags, the sadness and hate from earlier leaving her system.

A rustling in the back seat, and then John was leaning over the side console to reach the radio. His bare arm came near hers and she reflexively slammed into her door, trying to put distance between her deadly skin and a possible accident. She scrunched lower and away when he wouldn't move.

"I can't stand silences, I need some tunes," as he said this the radio turned on, volume up, on _'Bye Bye Bye'_ by N*Sync. Everyone in the car cringed, and John tried turning it off, hitting randomly at buttons. It shut off, and a whirring sound caught everyone's attention. Machinery worked and all of sudden the console gave way and a walkie-talkie of sorts, shaped like an X, pushed out.

Logan grabbed it and turned it over in his hand, putting it to his ear for a dial tone. Nothing. He turned to John, "Sit back" Amazingly, John did.

"Where are we going?," he asked, settling down in his seat.

Logan, watching the road and putting the talkie away, answered "Storm and Jean are in Boston, we'll head that way."

After a few seconds Bobby spoke up for the first time, and Rogue jolted with the realization and guilt that she forgot all about him. "My parents live in Boston."

"Good," Logan said shortly.

She was glad he saw it that way, because she sure didn't. She had a feeling that something was going to go down at the house.

She had a feeling everything would change after this.

* * *

><p><em>Okay so it took awhile for me to actually write this, but it's pretty long, so hopefully that'll make up for it. I will be having many different points of views in this, as many have probably noticed. But only certain people will have POVs, and only for certain times. And only if its needed xD<em>

_I have had this version of the story in my head for a while, so I've been trying to remember exactly what I had imagined. It's a little hard, cuz I went all the way past the third film into like, 3 other story arcs, including the avengers (mine includes Spiderman, Hulk, Ironman, Captain America, and I guess Thor) and will have the Fantastic Four involved. But knowing my track record, it would be a miracle if I actually got around to writing it. :) so let's keep our fingers crossed!_

_Please review, but not if it's just flames. It doesn't do anyone any good xP_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello! Sorry for the long delay, I've been...uh, well I kind of forgot about this and went off on other fandoms. But hopefully this will be to everyone's liking. _

_On a side note, but similar, I have added more to the Avengers plot that I mentioned earlier, so we will be having more couples and so on, hopefully people will like that._

_Anyway, on with the story!_

* * *

><p>Chapter 3 -<p>

There was a dripping noise.

She couldn't pinpoint where exactly it came from, but the sound permeated the fog in her mind enough to wake her up.

Where was she?

A little moan slipped out as she sat up slowly, a blanket slipping down her shoulders, realizing belatedly that she was not alone. A handful of children from the mansion were sitting around her, all with degrees of worry and fear on their young faces.

A gasp pulled her from her observations, causing her to look to her right. Jubilee was leaning against a wall right beside her, it seems she had just woken up.

"Kitty, you're awake!" Jubilee sat forward, suddenly filled with energy. "I was so freaked out. You were unconscious for a really long time!"

Kitty raised a hand to her head, trying to clear away the muckiness that still clung to her brain, while another clutched the blanket to her body. She needed to focus, "Jubilee, what happened? I remember…running into a room and you were there and then…" she trailed off, hoping her friend would be kind enough to fill in the blanks.

Jubilee didn't disappoint. "We were captured. I woke up on the ride over, but they quickly put me out again. But not quick enough to keep me from seeing that we were somewhere it was snowing. Now we're in these prisons." She gestured around them at the unforgiving walls and bars. "Some of the kids have tried to break out, but there's some sort of electrical current on it, I think."

Jubilee fell silent as both teens watched the other occupants of the cell. They were all huddled together in groups big and small. Some were crying, some were providing comfort. A few were pacing the lining of the cell, looking around the bars of one side.

Kitty pulled the blanket closer, her heart squeezing. She and Jubilee were the oldest there. All of them were just children, they shouldn't be in this situation.

She sighed. They have to pull it together. Be strong for the rest of them. She swallowed.

"They'll come find us. They will."

She saw Jubilee turn to her out of the corner of her eye. Kitty risked a quick glance at her eyes before looking at the floor.

"Soon."

* * *

><p>Oh thank God. They were finally there.<p>

Rogue couldn't get out of the car fast enough. She had been sitting in that vehicle with the guys for about five hours now, with nothing but an awkward tense silence covering the small group. It had been that way ever since Logan put the tags back over her head. Ever since Bobby made his presence known.

_He'll probably have some words with me later_, Rogue swiped a white strand out of her face in frustration. She couldn't wait for _that_ conversation.

She looked up and saw that the guys were already walking towards the door. She quickly followed, reaching them right when Bobby got the door open.

"Mom! Dad! Ronny! Is anybody home?" Bobby called out, silence being his only reply. By then they had all piled in and were all crowded in the front room. Bobby turned to her, "I'll try to find you some clothes," Rogue let out a small sigh, she couldn't wait to cover her arms.

"Try not to burn anything," Bobby tossed to John as he walked farther in the house, her reluctantly following.

* * *

><p>'<em>It makes sense that he'd have a bunch of snow skiing posters in his room<em>,' she thought as she pulled her hair back in a ponytail. Bobby had left her in here while he went to find something she could wear. Rogue sighed, and lifted a hand to the dogtags.

He'd given them back.

She couldn't understand what that meant. They had always had that…_something_ together, but he had left before anything could be sure. And then when he finally came back he'd only shown real interest in Jean. But when she had tried to be a good girlfriend and give back the other man's tags, Logan had thrown all her good intentions back in her face, confusing her by putting them right back around her neck, screwing her, and her relationship with Bobby, up.

She gripped the tags tighter and exhaled roughly through her nose. '_Oh, this man'll be the death of me…_' She paused, letting her thoughts and theories roll about in her head. What did it mean? She walked around the room a bit, heading towards the window.

Footsteps pounding up the stairs sent her into a twirl and she turned to see Bobby walk in.

"Hey," he held a bundle of cloth out to her, "I found a few of my mom's clothes. Hopefully they fit. I think they were from before I was born," he grins at her. She smiles back, happy to see the long gloves on top, "Groovy."

She stood there awkwardly when he didn't make a motion to leave. "Uhh…Bobby?" She gestured at the door. He started, "Oh! Yea, of course. Sorry," he stumbled away, finally making it to the hall and shutting the door. Once she was sure it was okay, she started to quickly change.

* * *

><p>Logan stood in the kitchen, fiddling with the walkie-talkie that came out of the dashboard. He put it next to his ear and heard what he thought was static, but when he tried talking, nobody answered back.<p>

He was getting worried. Jean and Storm still hadn't reported back in at all. In a time like this, he really needed the help, someone else in the X-Men to show themselves so they could figure out some sort of plan to rescue the other kids. Or _something_.

He sighed, "Where are you guys?"

* * *

><p>John was walking through the foyer, looking around at the Drake house and all it had to offer. But his eyes went past all of it.<p>

He was worried.

Kitty had went the other way. He didn't know if she had gotten away, or not. Whether she was safe or if she had been taken. It was straining his nerves, making his emotions run tight and his mood worsen. He would never admit it, but he was scared for her.

Stupid Kitten.

His eyes focused when he found himself in front of the family portraits. Seeing the happy faces of Bobby and his family were a bit irritating. Flashes of a past life in Australia, long ago, went through his mind, the yelling and the screaming running through his ears.

His gaze hardened, and he fisted a hand.

* * *

><p>Rogue tugged on the quarter length gloves, straightening them out. She then proceeded to open the door to find Bobby turning away quickly. She stared at his back in confusion, before clearing her throat. He jumped and spun around. "You done?" he smiled awkwardly.<p>

She nodded, "Mm-hm."

He nodded back. He began walking towards her, into the room, and she accommodated him by stepping backwards. They continued this way until they reached the center of the room. She finally looked up at him, confused as to what his actions meant.

He had that look.

'_Again?_' she thought, exasperated. His eyes had softened and he was gazing at her lips. He leaned in; she leaned back.

"You won't hurt me," he whispered, and leaned in a bit faster. She didn't pull away in time, and he was able to fuse his mouth to hers, holding her shoulders in place. She immediately froze up.

Memories, not her own, rushed through her brain, images of a life, of thoughts, that she never had began to imprint themselves on her. Emotions hit her like a rush of wind and she could feel her blood freezing and everything turn to ice.

She wrenched away from him.

The connection stopped, but she could feel him running through her brain, making his own space up there. Ice ran in her veins, everything was cold. She breathed out and mist coated the air. She looked over at Bobby. He stood farther away from her than before. He wasn't shaking, but Rogue could detect a hint of fear in his eyes.

'_Good_,' she thought. Now he knows why she says no.

* * *

><p>Logan opened the refrigerator door, hoping to find a beer. 'Oh sweet heaven above, there is,' he thought as he picked one up. He popped the cap and took a sip, savoring the taste when-<p>

His claws unsheathed themselves and he whipped his arm out to the right, ready to take on whoever thought it wise to sneak up on him, only to find-

A cat. A big fluffy cat.

He stared dumbfounded at the animal, and it stared blankly up at him before rubbing its face on the blunt edge of his claws. It began purring and licking the metal, and unwillingly a smile stretched his lips.

And then another sound caught his attention, and the blades retracted as the front door opened. He heard the cat meow as a teenage boy walked in. The kid stopped abruptly at seeing Logan, causing his mother to run into him from behind.

Logan just stood there, staring at them, not knowing what to say. He could hear what he could only assume was the father call out from another room: "Hey, Ronny? Next time you-" he cut himself off when he walked into the kitchen, finally seeing Logan too. The mom slipped forward to grab the cat, before swiftly hiding behind her son and husband. Said husband pulled his kid back, "Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

Logan just stood there like a lump, still not knowing how to proceed. He thanked whoever was looking out for him when he heard the kid and Marie coming downstairs.

Bobby rounded the banister, freezing at the sight of his parents. His mother walked forward, "Bobby? Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"Bobby who is this guy?" his father questioned, gesturing at Logan, his gaze completely suspicious. Logan could feel the Wolverine growl in his mind, but he held it back. He couldn't start a fight. Not here, and definitely not now.

Bobby floundered for moment, glancing between Logan and his parents, "Uh, This is…Professor Logan," he trailed off. Logan shot him a look, not sure how he felt about that, but if it worked…

There was a silence, before Bobby spoke up again, finally voicing the elephant in the room, "There's something I need to tell you."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Short, much shorter than last chapter, but I've kept this off for long enough. I'll be surprised if anyone actually still cares. But I'll keep at it. Right now I'm focusing on my Golden Swan and Mad Beauty fics, so this is kinda on the back burner. But it's still on the agenda :)<strong>_

_**Hope ya liked it :)**_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 -

It was awkward. _So_ awkward. Rogue shifted in her seat where she sat on the extended part of the couch in the Drake's living room. Bobby sat next to her, with his mother on the elongated part of the 'L' couch and Ronny next her. His father sat across from Rogue on a chair. Logan was standing in the doorway behind her and John was leaning on the table against the wall behind her. The only sound that permeated the silence was the constant _flick-click_ of John's lighter.

Bobby's parents were still trying to wrap their heads around his confession to being a mutant. They had been under the impression that he was normal and at a normal prep school. Never in their wildest dreams did they think they're son would be a mutant.

"So, um," his mother began, "When did you first know that you were a…" she seemed to have a hard time saying the word. "A, um…-"

"A mutant?" John interrupted. Bobby's mother looked over at him, "Would you cut that out?" she asked, annoyed at his constant flicking of his Zippo.

John did it once more, emphasizing heavily on the motion. Bobby's father finally spoke up, "It's not that, it's just…we thought that Bobby was going to a school for the gifted." Rogue shook her head, "Bobby _is_ gifted."

He nodded his head, "We know that, but-""We still love you, Bobby," his mother interrupted her husband. "It's just…this mutant problem is a little…"

And then Logan spoke for the first time, "What mutant problem?" Bobby's mother inhaled a breath, looking over at the gruff man. "Complicated," she finished her sentence.

And another awkward silence floated in.

"What exactly are you professor of, Mister, uh, Logan?" the father asked. "Art," Logan replied sarcastically. Rogue hid a smile at his attitude. Instead she began speaking, "But you should see what Bobby can do," she suggested. His mother was lifting a cup of tea to her mouth to drink, and Bobby leaned forward, his index finger outstretched. Lightly he touched the side of the cup and suddenly the sound of hardened crystals could be heard. His mother, shocked, dropped the cup and saucer back on the coffee table. The frozen tea came out as one solid onto the saucer and the cat jumped up and started licking it.

"I can do a lot more than that," Bobby bragged. John chuckled at the parent's stunned faces, and suddenly Ronny rose up from the couch and left the room. The Drake family called after him, and Rogue could see the sadness in Bobby's eyes. Not to mention the fact that she had his memories now, she could _see_ the history of sibling rivalry. Bobby felt guilty for his brother's feeling of inadequacy.

Bobby's mother lowered her head, "Oh this is all my fault."

"Actually studies show that the mutant gene comes from the father," John started as he pointed at Bobby's dad, "So technically it's his fault."

Rogue rolled her eyes. 'Way to help, John.'

A beeping sound cut her thoughts off, and she and the rest of the group looked around the room. It sounded like a phone. Rogue's senses pointed her to Logan, so she looked up at him. He returned her gaze and then seemed to realize that it was him making the noise.

"Oh, God. It's for me," he said as he began walking towards the sliding door to the backyard.

As she watched him go, she could hear Bobby's mother begin to ask if he'd ever tried to not be a mutant. Her eyes hurt from the effort of trying not to roll her eyes once more.

* * *

><p>Logan had answered the phone device that had come from the car earlier. It had been Jean and Storm and he had finally been able to apprise them of what had happened at the mansion. They were now en route to Bobby's house, but as he looked in the reflection of the sliding door he hoped they hurried.<p>

The military had found them. He went into the room and closed the door.

* * *

><p>Rogue jerked her head up when Logan rushed back into the room, "We have to go now."<p>

"Why?" she asked, already getting up. "_Now!_" he growled, and she knew it was bad. She followed him without any other protest. She heard the boys follow suit. They went up to the front door, and Logan opened it, going out first.

The entire front of the house had police cars all along the lawn. They had the small group surrounded, and all of them had their guns out, ready to shoot. Unexpectedly, a cop came up next to them from the right. Rogue couldn't see him too well, she had to look around John and Bobby who were right next to her.

"Drop the knives and put your hands in the air!" the cop yelled. It was then that she realized that Logan had unleashed his claws. She felt dread curl in her stomach. Logan turned from the male cop and looked to the left, and that was when Rogue noticed the female cop next to her, gun drawn as well.

"What's going on here?" Logan asked. Bobby answered, almost to himself, "Ronny…"

Ronny had called the authorities on them.

The male cop repeated his command for Logan to drop his 'knives'. Suddenly a loud crash broke through the air, and they all jumped and turned back to look in the house. More cops had broken their way in and were herding the Drake family to the wall.

Things were spiraling way out of control.

Logan tried to calm things down, "This is all just a misunderstanding." But the cop wouldn't listen, repeating once again his command. Logan turned and looked at him, his expression hard, "I _can't_."

Then he began to lift his hand up at the guy, trying to reason with him. Slowly he lifted it up perpendicular with his body, "Look," he said, and then retracted his claws.

That was a mistake. The noise startled the cop and a bullet shot out and imbedded itself in Logan's skull. The scream tore out of her throat before she realized it. She watched with horror as Logan's body crumpled to the ground. She heard the cop then turn on her, John, and Bobby to get on the ground, but it was as though she were underwater. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the small trickle of blood that came from the wound. She began to lower her body without thinking, her body behind Logan's head. She kept praying over and over that he was okay. He had to be. He should heal from this. She hoped he would heal from this. He wasn't moving though, and that started a panic in her brain.

She was detached from what was happening around her, but could hear John start to talk. He hadn't gotten to the ground like she and Bobby had, and all of a sudden he was throwing a fireball at the male cop. She snapped out of it, and watched as the fireball swerved back and hit the female, taking her out. He went crazy, sending fireballs at all the cops- inside the house, on the lawn. He blew up the two cars in the front and then sent one hurdling into an incoming cop car. When he set an insistent fire trail at the car, at the people inside, Rogue knew she had to take action to stop him. He wasn't going to otherwise.

She quickly set to getting her glove off her right hand. When her hand was finally free she twisted to wrap her hand around John's ankle, clenching it to hurry her mutation up. The predicted rush of memories and thoughts came to her and she tried to ignore it, tried to focus on the power that he was bestowing upon her unwillingly. Simultaneously she used John's power to lessen the flames and Bobby's to send ice over it to hurry the process along. She felt John topple over into a kneel, and she knew that she should probably let go but she had to finish.

Then she heard the bullet hit the floor, and sensed Logan coming to. Before she could do anything though, her attention was stolen by the X-Jet lowering from the sky. She finally let go of John, and she saw the boys stand up out of her peripheral vision. She followed their lead, her eyes riveted to the aircraft that was landing. Logan stood up in front of her and she couldn't help but stare at him in awe.

He was okay.

He cracked his neck and then turned to look at Bobby and John. Bobby began to walk forward then, after a moment of nobody moving. They all were spurred into action and headed to where the jet was opening for them to get on.

* * *

><p>Kitty had been pacing the room for the past hour. She had been trying to figure a way out. The electric current running through the bars side wouldn't even let <em>her<em> through. She had tried walking out a while ago, but apparently it was made to withstand her powers. She went flying back, her body aching for the longest time.

She didn't know what to do. She knew they could wait for help, but who knows if they'll find them, get to them on time. Kitty hated waiting, it made her feel like she wasn't doing anything. She looked around at the children in the small cell. All of them were huddled underneath blankets, trying to retain warmth in the dank cold place. She had been sharing one with Jubilee, but had let her friend have it while she paced. All of the kids looked scared, and she hated that she couldn't do a thing about it.

She hung her head and slowly walked back over to where Jubes was sitting in the corner. She crawled underneath the blanket and snuggled up to her friend. The silence went on for a few more moments before she whispered, "Do you think they made it out? Rogue and Bobby and…John?"

Jubilee looked at Kitty, who pulled her legs close to her and burrowed into herself. She bit her lip and answered as honestly as she could, "I hope so."

Kitty was silent. "Me too…me too."

The silence continued.

* * *

><p>Getting on the jet, Rogue saw Storm at the helm with Jean in the passenger seat. But there was also someone else, a stranger.<p>

He was blue.

"Guten tag," he greeted them shyly but politely. John got into the seat in front of the blue man, while Logan got into the one behind Storm, Rogue behind him, and then Bobby behind her. Logan ignored the man, asking the two women in the front, "Who the hell is this?"

The man answered for himself, "My name is Kurt Wagner," he put on a bravado voice, "but in the Munich Circus I was known as 'The Incredible Nightcrawler'!" Logan interrupted him though, "Ah save it. Storm?"

"We're out of here," she confirmed. The jet started to lift, but Rogue was watching Kurt's face. He looked hurt at Logan's dismissal, and she felt sorry for him. But he reminded her too much of another blue-skinned mutant, so she didn't say anything, choosing to stay silent. As the jet was still rising, it jerked a little bit, causing Logan to let out a small "Whoa…" But it didn't do it again, so everyone relaxed.

For awhile the flight was okay, it was steady. Everyone was calm in their seats and Logan even got up to go talk with Storm and Jean. Rogue could only hear _them_ murmuring, but could _definitely_ hear the loud voice over the speaker.

"_Unidentified aircraft: you are ordered to descend to 20,000 ft. Return with our escorts to Hanscom air force space. You have ten seconds to comply._"

The voice was grainy but stern, and Rogue could tell she meant business."Wow someone's angry," Storm muttered under her breath. Logan looked over his shoulder at John, "Yea, I wonder why," he said pointedly. John just raised his eyebrows at the not-so-subtle accusation.

The voice came in again: "We _are coming up beside you to escort you to Hanscom air force space._" They all looked to the sides to see two government jets pull up next to them. "_Lower your altitude now_," the voice continued. "_Repeat: Lower your altitude to 20,000 feet. This is your last warning._" With that, the jets moved away.

"They're falling back," Jean confirmed. It was quiet for a moment, and then-Loud noises interrupted the small bit of peace, loud beeping from the X-Jet's consoles. Everyone tensed up, "They're locking on us!" Storm worried. "What?" Logan panicked, but Storm overrode him, "They're going to fire, hang on!"

Logan turned to go to his seat, but Storm had chosen that time to put the turbo on and he flew into the side of the jet before falling into his seat. Everyone was putting their seatbelts on, but Rogue couldn't seem to get hers working. Her gloves wouldn't catch and the jet was moving too much for her to get a good grip and there were just too many pieces involved.

Suddenly they moved in a loop, and once they righted themselves John spoke up, his voice weary, "Please don't do that again."

Logan agreed vocally. Then he said, "Don't we have any weapons?" And that's when everything started getting darker. Especially the skies.

Storm was working her magic. Clouds came in from overhead and tunnels shot out, creating numerous funnels to both hit and distract the people following them. They pierced the air like columns and the jets, all of them, swerved to miss them. Rogue did the best she could to just hold on, gripping the seat belt straps instead of trying to actually clicking it on. She sat as still in her seat as she could, a small prayer repeating itself in her brain.

And then it all straightened out. The skies opened up again, and the jet righted itself.

Jean turned around, "Everyone okay back there?" she checked. Everyone answered yes, except for Logan who deadpanned a "No."

Then the beeping started up again, quicker than ever, everyone tensed again. On the console it showed two shapes coming at them. They all seemed to brace themselves, awaiting the blast, hoping it wouldn't be too bad. Unexpectedly one of them seemed to short-circuit and explode on itself. Rogue could feel the power coming from Jean, a much stronger force than she ever felt from the telekinetic. For a second she allowed herself to wonder if maybe the redhead had more power than she let on, but that thought was pushed out when Storm reminded them that there was still one more. She tightened her hold on the strap. Storm called out to her best friend, asking silently if she could get it.

Dread filled everyone when her soft exhale of disbelief and an "Oh, God," hit their ears. At that moment the entire back of the jet exploded and the aircraft started to plummet. The air began sucking objects out, and Rogue felt herself being lifted out of her seat. She tried to hold on to the back of the chair, a scream ripping out of her throat. She saw Logan turn around and see her, his eyes filled with terror. Right when he began to reach his arms out for her, to pull her back to safety, the winds tore her away and out of the jet. His shouts followed her and she found herself midair and falling. Her voice seemed to leave her and she couldn't utter a sound. She kept dropping, not knowing what to do, her brain refusing to work. Static overtook her senses.

'_I'm going to die._'

* * *

><p>Logan felt himself go cold all over, "<em>NO!<em>" She was gone, she was gone, Marie was _gone_.

The wolverine inside him wailed and screeched and curled in on itself. He didn't even notice the cloud of blue smoke that appeared next to him when suddenly a giant form dove down the aisle towards the front. He did a double take as he faced forward. The blue man-Nightcrawler, he said his name was, was laying on his back and clutched in his arms…was Marie.

A huge weight seemed to drop from him, before he realized that they were still nose-diving straight at the ground at top speed.

They were going to die anyway.

He wanted to reach down and get her, hold her, he supposed, one last time. But the seatbelt was cutting into him. For a moment he wanted to laugh at the irony. When they first met he got thrown out of a vehicle because he wasn't wearing a seatbelt, and now…her. He saw her turn her head slightly towards him and he smiled ruefully at her.

They were still dropping significantly when the sounds of metal fusing together caught their attention. Logan turned around to see the back of the jet repairing itself and a curl of unease nestled around his spine. He knew only one person that could do that. Only one man.

Storm had to ask though, "Jean?" she had a little hope in her voice, but it was dashed by Jean's reply, "It's not me!"

The jet came to an abrupt stop, and everyone hung from their seat belts facing the ground. Rogue slowly, and reluctantly, began sitting up, pulling away from the man that saved her to look out the front window.

There, standing with his hand outstretched and his blue-skinned companion by his side, stood Erik Lehnsherr.

_Magneto. _

Rogue could feel the situation get worse instantly.

* * *

><p><em><strong>So it's been a bit longer than I said. But at least I got this one up :) I know that it seems like a word-by-word, but that's kind of what it is for now. The only difference are a few key parts, it's when I get farther into this one and into the third and onward that things start to branch out, so please, bear with me :)<strong>_

_**I'll begin working on the next one. At the moment, I also have two other fics I'm working on, both Once Upon A Time: a Golden Swan and a Mad Beauty fic, so I'll probably update those first. The Golden Swan one is probably the one that's closer to being updated xD **_

_**(btw, if I got the German greeting wrong, please let me know. I'm pretty sure that's how you write it, but I'm not too sure.)**_

_**Hope you enjoyed this one, please let me know :)**_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

As soon as the plane had landed successfully, Rogue felt her body being lifted once more. Only this time it was into Logan's arms she found herself in. He gripped her tightly to him, almost painfully, but she ignored it and just responded in kind. He carried her out of the jet, ignoring everyone's stares, and she merely buried her face into his under shirt. She tried not to touch his skin, but her other senses overrode her normally careful precautions.

She had thought she was going to die. She had had no doubt in her mind when she was dropping through the air moments ago. She needed to be with him right now, she needed to hold him.

Apparently he felt the same, judging by the way he clutched her to him firmly.

She felt him sit down and her head nudged the tree he leaned against. He bent his knees, causing her to be cradled more snugly into his body. His chest moved as he breathed deeply and she felt the tension drain out of him slowly. As he relaxed, so did she.

"I'm okay," she murmured. "I'm okay."

He nodded, a rumbling rising in the small space around them. A deep content noise that calmed and lulled her.

They sat there for however long. The sounds of the others moving about around them finally shook them out of the small bit of peace. She pulled away from him and tried to catch his eye. Warm brown greeted her and she smiled softly.

"I'm okay," she repeated.

His eyebrow twitched. "I know."

She raised her brows, "Are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Are you okay?"

He shot her a look. She stared steadily back. He couldn't hold it and turned away, nodding hard, "Yea, I'm fine," he answered gruffly.

She rested a hand on the side of his face. When she opened her mouth to say something more, Bobby chose that moment to walk up to them.

"Rogue." Her head jerked in surprise. She'd forgotten him again. 'Some girlfriend I am,' she thought morosely. His eyes darted between her and Logan, before stopping pointedly on their position. A flush went up her neck and she scrambled off of Logan. However, before leaving with Bobby, she kneeled down first.

She didn't know what to say, so she gently squeezed his hand instead. Her heart sped up when he returned the gesture.

She got up and followed Bobby away. Logan's eyes followed her.

-x-

The senior X-Men gathered with Erik and Mystique to discuss what was happening. Her, Bobby, John, and the newest mutant named Kurt were not allowed to attend the meeting.

Rogue was not gonna let that be the end of it. She wanted to know what they were talking about.

So she got the idea to ask Kurt. He was able to teleport stealthily, maybe he could eavesdrop for them. There was a chance. And that's how she found herself dropping down next to the man.

He had looked up when she approached, but now turned his face shyly away. She felt herself softening towards him, and after a moment of silence spoke, "Thank you." This was a sincere sentiment; she had been meaning to express this to him since they landed, but this seemed like the best time.

He smiled, "_Bitte schön__,_" and then once again dropped his eyes. Silence overtook them again. They both looked up ahead, where a bonfire was set up for those at the meeting.

She hesitated, "Can you hear what they are saying?" She glanced over at him questioningly.

After a few beats he smiled shyly, "I could take a closer look."

And then he was gone in a small poof of dark ink. She looked back to the bonfire, trying to catch a glance of where he was, but he was hidden well. So she waited.

-x-

Logan was tired. Not physically, obviously, but just drained entirely. Ever since he got back to the mansion nothing had settled down. And now, after just narrowly escaping death (or rather a really bad experience in his case)once again, he has to travel all the way back to Alkali Lake with fucking Magneto and that blue chick, despite the fact that he'd already seen it with his own eyes.

He lit a cigar as he walked around the campground. His mind was awhirl with everything that had come from that small meeting. He may not be his favorite person in the world, but Erik Lehnsherr sure knew how to get under Logan's skin. His sketchy past was always on his mind, and Magneto had reveled in divulging to Logan about the Professor's less-than-forthcoming on the subject. It shouldn't be so surprising, but it really rubbed Logan the wrong way. He hated how elusive his memories were, and it seemed this cycle would only just continue.

He irritably blew smoke into the night air. This was going nowhere, he needed a break. Looking around he realized he was near the tents, and just a ways over he could see Marie sitting just inside hers. She seemed to be waiting for something, one hand on the ground next to her, the other wrapped around something on her neck.

His tags.

He worked his jaw and made himself turn away. He had no idea what possessed him to give his tags back to her when she tried to return them. All he knew was that he didn't want her giving up this one piece of him with her. He wanted her to hold on to it, to keep it safe. If he were really honest with himself though, he'd realize that he just didn't want to dig any deeper than that. He didn't know his real motive behind his actions and he didn't want to dwell on it.

And so he forced his feet to move away, never knowing that she had sensed his presence and had lifted her head to look for him. But there was nothing to find in the darkness, and so she let out a sigh and finally decided to retreat into her tent to try to get some rest.

His feet took him in a circle, and he found himself in front of the X-jet. His nose could catch that of Jean's scent floating through the air. His ears picked up her steps and a few seconds later he was greeted with her walking down the ramp.

"What's the damage?" he asked.

"Nothing Magneto can't fix," she sighed as she took the final step to stand right in front of him. "We'll be ready to leave in the morning, though. It'll take a good four to five hours before we can get it off the ground at the moment."

As he watched her answer, his eyes traced her features. She really was attractive physically, he thought. The red hair, the wide eyes and long lashes. He really could get lost in her. And he should- he should try to get lost in her. She was the perfect distraction, and the with the way she was leaning towards him and the way her scent filled his lungs told him she wouldn't mind. So he stepped closer.

"How are you holding up?"he asked.

"I'm worried," she replied, "about Scott," she added as she caught his look. His mouth twisted.

"I'm worried about you," he remembered what had happened earlier despite not wanting to relive that experience. He had almost lost Marie. The terror that had gripped him a few hours ago started creeping back up his throat and he cleared it. "That was some display of power back there," he continued.

She smiled ruefully, "Obviously it wasn't enough."

His hand found its way to her neck and tangled in her short hair, "Hey, come on." He slipped a smolder into his gaze, looking her in the eye and then down to her mouth. He leaned closer, but she pulled back slightly.

"I love him," she murmured.

This felt very familiar in terms of being rejected for the other guy. It's what made him ask, "Do you?" after a small pause.

She smiled coyly at him, "Girls flirt with the dangerous guy, Logan. They don't take him home." She looked in the general direction of her husband-to-be, "They marry the good guy."

An anger burned low in his gut at being written off like that, but he forced a nonchalance in his next statement, "I could be the good guy." And he could- he knew he could. He clenched his hand as a sudden chill seized it, though he knew it wasn't that cold out. She looked up at him with those large eyes and began to say, "Good guys don't always take off-" but he cut her off with his mouth against hers because he didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to hear that all-too familiar argument because he didn't want to think about what he had been leaving behind. What he _knew_ he had been leaving behind.

For all her talk about loving Scott, she didn't push him away for a good few minutes and she wasn't any less enthusiastic about returning his kisses. She gripped the front of his shirt and he let himself go. With his eyes closed like this, he could almost imagine…almost imagine it was…-He didn't think as he kissed Jean, and he would have continued like this if she hadn't pulled away.

"Don't make me do this," she whispered.

He stayed silent as she tried to catch her breath. She looked up at him through her lashes but he couldn't speak, he couldn't move. So she moved away and out of his arms.

He could only stand there. Already the warmth her mouth had brought for a moment was leaving him, and the cold permeated his bones once more. Angrily he stomped back to his tent.

-x-

Sleep didn't come easily, but that wasn't surprising at all. The only thing he could do was stare at the moonlight that shown through the cracks in his tent as his ears picked up every bit of noise around the camp.

A crack of a twig and a shadow looming at the opening caused him to sit up quickly. The sight of Jean behind the lowered zipper made him pause however.

"Jean?" He went to say more, but was stopped by her finger to his lips. He could only stare at her in confusion as she straddled his hips and leaned forward. Her mouth replaced her lone finger and Logan just stopped thinking and went with it. If she wanted to do this, who was he to disagree with her? He opened his mouth and deepened the kiss, laying back fully on the ground with her completely on top of him. Her hands ran through his hair as his ran down her sides and then back up underneath her shirt. Her skin was soft and for a moment another image of another woman with striped hair flickered behind his eyes, but he squashed it just as his fingers skimmed over her stomach.

Where smooth flesh should have been, three short scars lay. He froze, remembering only one person who could have those and look like someone else.

He pulled away from her just as Jean's image faded away into the blue skin of Mystique.

"No one's ever left a scar quite like you," she murmured as she stayed over him, her hands planted on either side of his body.

"What do you want- an apology?" he growled, pissed that he hadn't noticed that she had the wrong scent. He must've been more hard up than he thought.

She leaned in and put her mouth close to his ear. "You know what I want," she whispered, her tongue brushing his skin. He pushed her away in disgust.

She gave him a leveled look, before her skin rippled, "But what do you want?"

Suddenly Storm was looking down at him, and Logan could only sit there. Yes the Weather Goddess was attractive, but he didn't want her in that way. She was one of the few people he could call a friend. Mystique seemed to realize that and a wicked gleam entered her eye and her skin shifted again.

Logan felt his breath hitch and Marie's image smirked down at him.

It took every inch of willpower he had not to make a move. His hands clenched down at his sides as he forced his expression to stay blank. By the look on her face, he didn't succeed. Her form changed again and he withheld a breath of relief. Jean once again crouched over him and he finally found the strength to wrench her away.

She sat back in her true form and he readied himself for a fight just in case. But she merely stared back at him in contemplation. Her form rippled and as she spoke her voice deepened.

"What do you really want?" Stryker asked him.

"I want you to get out," he snarled. He refused to lower his gaze, his fury and the rest of his emotions plain to see on his face. She smirked once more before turning back into her natural form and sliding out of his tent without a sound. Regardless, her silent message was clear- she wasn't the only one hiding behind a mask.

He finally let out the breath he'd been holding the entire time. Dropping his head, he rubbed his forehead tiredly and took deep inhales to calm himself.

That damn woman. How dare she.

'_What do you really want?_' she had asked.

Marie's image flickered once more to mind and he growled out loud, forcing it away. He couldn't think of her, he couldn't think like that. Running his hand through his hair he flopped back down, knowing he definitely wasn't going to get any sleep.

-x-

"When are we getting our suits?" Bobby asked. Rogue could only nod as she looked from her lackluster blue outfit to the decked out leather suits in the glass case separating the cockpit from the rest of the jet.

"Maybe in a couple of years," a voice rumbled behind her, and she turned in time to see Logan walking towards the front, his eyes studiously avoiding hers. He had been acting like this the whole morning and Rogue didn't quite know what to do about it. She followed his movements for a moment, wondering if he'd look back at all.

It was then that she heard laughter, and she turned around to be greeted with Erik and Mystique giggling In the back of the aircraft. At her movement, they met her gaze, both with smirks in place. Erik leaned forward as though to share something with her.

"We just love what you've done with your hair," he smiled.

A chill went down Rogue's spine and she clenched her jaw. Flashes of what occurred on the Statue of Liberty to give her this streak of white ran through her mind and the feeling of having her insides ripped out and the _pain_ and the constant motion as she felt herself _actually_ aging because it was _so much_ _power_ running through her and the _agony_ and the darkness that overrode her vision and overtook her and the feeling of being cold and then _nothing_-

He had _killed_ her. She had actually died in that moment, and if it hadn't been for Logan she wouldn't be here right now to listen to this. His actions had actually killed her and he was _laughing_ about it. Fury rushed through her senses and she felt her left hand come up and rip her glove off of her right without thinking. She stepped forward, relishing the look of surprise and a tiny amount of fear in the older man's eye as he straightened in his seat. He seemed to remember how her mutation felt when it took hold. Good.

She hurried forward, only to be held back by Bobby who had been standing by during the whole exchange. However she didn't look back at her boyfriend, only continued to stare off with Erik. Slowly she put her glove back on and wrenched her arm away from Bobby.

"You sure do talk big for someone who needed the help of a little girl to power their machine because they were too weak to do it themselves," she spat. She took a step forward, feeling Bobby's gaze on her back as though waiting for the chance to pull her away. But she had to say this. A wicked glint entered her eye as she shifted through his memories in her head. She knew it was a low blow, but he had made the first move. It was only right that she return the favor. Besides, he needed to be taken down a notch. He thought that just because she was young and a woman that she was beneath him, that he could just underestimate her.

She was going to show him that that was a bad idea.

Taking another step, she smirked cruelly. "You know, Erik, I've been wondering," her voice continued, getting lower with each word into an almost hiss, "what your _mother _would say if she knew that her son had become just like the man _who murdered her_." By this point she was standing over him, her teeth bared in a snarl. Mystique had tensed beside her companion, ready to retaliate, but Erik had put a hand out to stop her. His face was incredibly pale and his mouth was set in a hard line. He looked ready to kill her and that was exactly what Rogue had intended.

"Don't think for a moment that you can walk all over me, Erik," she whispered fiercely. "You forget, I have every memory you've ever had. I know who you are, you're in _my_ head." She tilted her chin up defiantly, "Next time you wanna talk shit, you remember that, _Erik_."

Silence followed her words. She hadn't spoken loudly, but they still seemed to echo throughout the jet. With one last glance at both of them, she pivoted on her heel and walked away. She could feel his burning gaze on her back, but she merely tossed her hair. Bobby stared at her with wide eyes, like he couldn't believe she had just done that. Just past him she could see Logan turning away at the last second. She could just barely make out a smirk and a rush of emotion flooded through her. This time it felt a _lot_ better than the one previously.

-x-

_Gonna end it there. It's been awhile since I updated so I don't want to keep you guys waiting any longer so I think this is an ok place to stop, and I am SO sorry. I've been really low on inspiration and I had school and I've just been plain lazy, so….yea, sorry :/_

_Btw, who saw Thor 2? :D How about that Lokane~ fun stuff, huh?_

_anD WHO'S READY FOR DOFP? I KNOW I AM :DDD_


	6. Chapter 6

_A little warning, I will be adding Charles/Raven to this fic and obviously the events of XFC are relevant (if you didn't get that from my mention of Shaw and Erik's mom in the last chapter) It won't be prevalent, but it will be there because I adore them so much and want to add them, so…:) enjoy~ (not to say there won't be Charles/Erik broshipping involved cuz that would be a lie)_

-x-

Chapter 6:

"Charles?"

Opening his eyes, he had to allow them to adjust to the daylight that spilled into his office. He lifted a hand to help shield his gaze, the smooth flesh startling something in the back of his mind, but he merely brushed it away. When he was sufficiently adapted to the sunlight, he turned around to where the voice came from. A smile immediately snuck to his lips.

"Charles?" Raven grinned from the doorway, her blonde curls bouncing around her shoulders as she leaned against the frame. "Why are you just sitting there? Come on, lazy bones! The kids are waiting for you."

For a moment he couldn't move; it was like something was holding him back. But with one look at Raven's mischievous gaze, he swiftly stood up and walked over to her. She was quick to link her arm around his and lead him out the door, a small skip to her step. He grinned at her enthusiasm. He had no idea where they were going, but he trusted her to not lead him astray.

However, that didn't stop him from asking, "So where are we going, love?"

She gasped in mock outrage, "Charles! How could you forget? Today's only the first day of the rest of our lives." She beamed over at him, "We officially open the school today, remember?"

He didn't remember. For some reason this didn't sound right, but with Raven smiling up at him, he didn't find a need to nitpick it.

They turned a corner and his eyes caught on a mirror hanging in the hallway. He found himself stopping, Raven following suit because her arm was still hooked in his.

"Charles?" she questioned. He didn't respond as he slowly stepped up to it, her arm slipping away.

What stared back at him was his reflection, obviously, but for some reason the image shocked him. Something about the dark hair that fell into his eyes and the dark facial hair that coated his young features didn't seem correct, but they were _his_. He knew they were his.

What was this? Something niggled in the back of his brain, dying to get out, to be known.

Raven walked up behind him, a soft smile on her on her lips, "What's up with you today?" She wrapped her arms around his torso, leaning against him from behind. Her chin rested snuggly on his shoulder as she joined him in studying their reflections.

"Raven…," he began. One of his hands reached up and encompassed her own, rubbing gently on the back of her hand. She kissed the side of his neck in response and he shivered.

"Could you…?" he didn't know how to finish his sentence. He didn't even know what he was going to say. Something in his gaze must have told her though, despite his own lack of understanding, and she smiled, her skin rippling. He could feel the flesh under his hand transform into soft blue scales and with a blink he was staring into her yellow eyes.

"Yea?" her smiled turned coy as she pressed up against him harder, turning her face farther into his neck.

However, for a brief moment, the eye that still showed flashed. It turned green and he was suddenly brought back to that night at that bar when she morphed her appearance to show up the woman he had been hitting on.

The one with the heterochromia.

His hand tightened on hers and the feeling in the back of his skull grew. Her eyes stayed on his, but something else entered them.

Frustration. Fear. A knowing glint that didn't look right on his Raven at all.

Her appearance started to flicker, but by this time he knew something definitely wasn't right. The word heterochromia echoed in his head and he thought harder, refusing to let the thought leave.

And then he knew.

"Jason," he rasped angrily, his chest heaving for an unexplainable anger. "Stop it."

Raven's skin morphed back into her blonde self again, and she clutched him closer to her body.

"Charles-" she began, but he didn't want to hear it. He clenched his eyes shut and squeezed her hand to the point of probably hurting her if she were real.

"Enough," he whispered. His body began to tremble.

She didn't leave, but only gripped him tighter, "Charles, please," her nose nuzzled his cheek and he felt something crack within him. "It's _me_," she continued. But he _couldn't_-

"Enough!"

He opened his eyes and the sunlight was gone. Darkness replaced the brightly lit hallway he had stood inside, and instead of his and Raven's younger reflections, Jason's green and blue eyes were what stared back at him.

"That's enough," Charles murmured, tiredly. "Don't bring her into this."

Jason didn't make any move that acknowledged his statement. Charles wondered if he even cared. He grasped the edges of the arms rests tighter and tried to build a larger fortress in his mind for the next attack.

The edges and cracks on the walls there told him it wasn't going to last long.

-x-

The flame was mesmerizing, but John couldn't find it in him to focus on it at the moment. He watched as Rogue walked off, effectively shutting Magneto down on his insults. He had been surprised that she would react in that manner, but then again he supposed it had been building within her for awhile. As much as she tried to hide it, he knew that anger was always brimming under the surface. She had the Wolverine in her head, one of the angriest people he'd ever seen. He was surprised she'd kept it under lock all this time.

He glanced back over to his right where Magneto was sitting. John had heard stories about what this guy was capable of. He had overheard the adults and other kids talking about what had happened on Liberty Island. It probably wasn't smart to annoy someone like this, but at the moment John didn't feel very rational.

"So they say you're the bad guy?"

The older man barely spared him a look. Probably still pissed because of Rogue's comeback. "Is that what they say?" he muttered. John nodded, though he knew the older mutant didn't see. His eyes wandered down to the object laying between them. Right beside Magneto lay the helmet he always carried with him.

"That's a dorky looking helmet," John commented, because why not?

Magneto's lip twitched and his companion smiled off to the side. Other than that, neither turned to acknowledged him. John completely disregarded the blatant message of 'fuck off' and continued with his pestering.

"What's it for?"

Finally Magneto turned his head, his gaze intense and icy. He smirked, but it held no mirth, "This 'dorky looking' helmet is the only thing that's going to protect me from the _real_ bad guys."

He lifted a hand and John felt his Zippo being ripped out of his own, the flame still open. Shocked, John slowly unfolded himself to sit up straight. Magneto contemplated the lighter in his hand and spoke, his voice a little warmer this time.

"What's your name?"

John felt himself hesitate and instantly got mad. He wasn't afraid of this guy, why was he acting like such a loser? It's just a name- his _own_ name, for Christ's sake. "John."

Magneto turned back to John, that cool smirk back in place. A glint in his eye made John tense in the shoulders, though he tried to force it away. "What's your real name, John?"

John knew what he was asking immediately, and was quick to show his skills. Reaching one hand out, he willed the flame that still burned on the Zippo into his palm. With the heat on his face, he answered, "Pyro."

"What a talent you have there, Pyro."

John shook his head, "I can't create the fire. I can only manipulate it." He closed his fingers around the flame, not flinching at all. When he opened his hand, his flesh was unscathed. Magneto gave him a look of consideration and appraisal. He leaned forward, as though to share something of utmost importance to John.

"You are a god among insects. Never let them tell you anything different."

John felt something shift inside him at those words. He thought of all those moments of frustration and anger he had felt during his stay at Xavier's. All those loud and furious nights even before the school. Being told over and over that he had to hide what he was, that he wasn't good enough (not for his mother, not for his father, not for Xavier, not for society, not for anyone) especially not the way he was. He was never good enough, not compared to others. There was always someone better than poor little angry John Allerdyce.

And here this man, this 'bad guy', was finally telling him he was enough. That he was _better_ than enough. That he was superior.

As Magneto clicked the lighter closed, John felt something click in his mind. And as Magneto handed back his source of power, John accepted it without hesitation.

-x-

Jubilee was hungry.

So _very_ hungry. That half sandwich she had had for dinner hadn't been enough and she had known it, thinking she'd get a giant breakfast in the morning.

Of course she hadn't accounted for an angry military siege on the house and being kidnapped and held in a dirty nasty cell, so there's that she supposed. A decent excuse by her standards.

Regardless, no excuses helped to ignore her growling stomach. She placed a hand gently over her middle and rested her head against her knees.

A loud rumble caused Kitty to jerk awake next to her. Her friend had finally dozed off and Jubilee was sad to see that rest broken so quickly. Kitty blinked her eyes blearily around the cell, finally coming to rest on Jubilee's face.

"How long was I out?" she murmured, her voice thick.

Jubilee reached over and petted her friend's hair. Kitty leaned her head into her palm like her namesake, still trying to brush off the tendrils of sleep.

"Not that long, actually. Maybe half an hour?" Jubilee answered. "Nothing has happened, so you haven't missed a thing, don't worry."

Kitty glanced over with a wry twist of her mouth. "I know you wouldn't let the fun happen without me, Jubes."

"You know me so well, gurl."

Kitty chuckled and Jubilee mentally pat herself on the back for a job well done.

"So no change at all with the force field?" Kitty inquired. She pulled her legs up to her chin and rested her head. The bags under her eyes were much larger than before, but Jubilee knew her friend wasn't going to rest again for awhile.

"Nope. Nothing."

Kitty sighed and Jubilee could only nod in agreement.

"Same, girl, same."

-x-

"Why can't we go, too?"

Hands on her hips, Rogue faced off against Logan in the corner of the jet. They had just reached Alkali Lake and the 'seniors' had already decided their plan of attack. Mystique was to infiltrate disguised as Logan so she could turn off the floodgates. The rest of the group minus Rogue, Bobby, and John were to wait until it was clear and then follow. Rogue didn't like this, not one bit. After they broke the meeting, Rogue immediately pulled Logan away.

"Well?" she demanded. He let out a great exhale, not meeting her eyes.

"Look, I don't know what to tell you, kid-"

She stopped him right there, "Hold it right there, mister. Just where do you get off calling me 'kid'? I haven't been one for five years now, _at least_." She tried to catch his gaze, but he wouldn't look at her, "What's going on with you? Are you okay? You've been acting strange since we've landed."

"I'm fine," he grumbled, but it held no weight as continued staring at the floor.

She frowned and opened her mouth to complain once more when this time she was interrupted.

"Logan?" Jean called, "You ready?"

"Yea!" Logan answered, almost too hastily as he all but ran over to the ramp to leave. Rogue watched him go, her mouth agape.

'What in the world is wrong with him?' she wondered, her hands absentmindedly reaching up to grip the dogtags that rested against her collarbone.

"What was that about?"

Rogue about jumped out of her skin as she wrenched her hand away from her throat quickly as though burned. She spun around, her ponytail flipping into her face but she hardly noticed. Bobby stood behind her, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I have no idea," she blurted. Bobby narrowed his eyes, but she merely stared back as though unaffected. Behind him, she could see John sprawled on a chair smirking over the Iceman's shoulder at her. She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him immaturely and instead turned away from both boys.

"Now," Storm started as she walked over to the trio. Rogue could see the rest of the team assembled outside, ready to go. "Don't leave this jet under any circumstances, okay?" She gave them each a hard look. "I mean it. We'll be back soon, I promise."

The junior X-Men nodded, but none of them looked happy about the situation. Storm glanced at each of them before turning on her heel, her cape fluttering at her ankles.

Rogue watched them go, a feeling of dread curling in her stomach. She knew it wouldn't be that easy.


	7. Chapter 7

_Sorry for the false alarm! I realized I had been uploading it without checking over it so I quickly deleted it. It should be good now. Sorry about that :(_

-x-

Chapter 7:

If they really thought he would stay with them when they got in, then they were dumber than they thought he was. As soon as he got a reading on where Stryker was, he left, leaving his communicator behind on the desk. They'd find it, he was sure.

It was difficult to smell anything in there over the dank sewer odor that permeated the air, so he wasn't able to use his nose to search out Stryker. He tried to recall the blueprints as best he could, and used the rest of his senses to get him where he needed to go. His boots made loud noises as they slapped against the floor. He made no effort to silence his approach.

Claw marks on the doorway to his left caught his attention and his feet came to a stop right beside it. Slowly, he walked towards the opening, and the sight that greeted him nearly sent him to his knees.

It was his nightmare.

There was the tank, right in front of him, that he had drowned in every night since he had woken up with no memory. The machines next to it were filled with a bubbling grey liquid substance and had needles protruding towards the water; it gave him chills as he remembered the feeling of them penetrating his skin.

This was the room.

He hesitantly stepped forward, his eyes taking in the rest of the room as he came to a halt near the machine. Swallowing, he turned to study the tank in closer detail, his hand trembling as it lifted up to ghost over the claw marks imbedded in the cement.

Flashes suddenly seized him and he clamped his eyes shut as they washed over him in erratic waves.

_He burst out of the water, claws ablaze, and _roared_ up at the men in the higher level. Agent Zero whirled around in an arc and shots were fired. Logan felt the impact against his forehead, but he merely brushed it off as the bullets were pushed out of his flesh and fell to the water. He let out a low growl and could smell the fear and shock on every person in the room. He bared his teeth in a snarl. _

_He darted out of the tank, not caring about his nudity in the least. He swiped at everyone in his way, tearing a path to the door. He sliced through the giant metal door like it was butter, kicking it open and running outside. They were too far away to do anything as he took a flying leap down the nearby waterfall._

_He crashed into the waves at the bottom and floated for God knew how long, barely keeping his head above water. All he knew was that he had to survive. Whether that decision was a conscious one or instinctual, he couldn't determine. Time passed and before he knew it he was being pushed near a bank and he grabbed fistfuls of the grass to pull himself up. Dragging his body across the ground, he finally felt the agony lacing through his arms where his claws resided. Slowly he let them emerge and finally got a good look at what they had done to him. What he had _agreed_ to be done to him._

_Long metal claws coated the bones that resided in his arms. The skin at his knuckles were bleeding and healing at a rapid pace and the pain that coursed through his veins made him throw his head back and _**howl**_-_

Logan jerked back into the present. A distant throbbing in his hands caused him to clench them. His chest heaved as he tried to regain his breath and his composure.

He almost missed the sound of two pairs of footsteps coming towards him. Even over the stench of the room, he would recognize that scent anywhere.

Stryker.

-x-

Rogue fumed in her chair as John continued to click his lighter. It felt like they had been waiting forever and she was growing even more pissed off by the second. Not to mention the way that Logan had acted continued to frustrate her. She turned over their recent interactions in her mind, trying to figure out what was wrong, but she couldn't think of anything. She let out another angry sigh and saw Bobby turn to her out of the corner of her eye.

The final click of the Zippo caught her attention. "That's it," John proclaimed, standing up.

He leaned over them to reach the console, flicking the ramp down. Spinning, he grabbed his coat on his way out.

"Whoa! Where do you think you're you going?" Bobby demanded. He and Rogue were hot on John's heels, mimicking him when he stopped in front of the ramp.

He shrugged on his coat, "I'm done with this kid's table shit. I'm going after them."

"They told us to stay here," Rogue pointed out. Because as much as she hated staying behind, she knew when to follow orders. And that was definitely an order.

John smirked over his shoulder at her, "You always do what you're told?" Rogue paused at that, unable to form a response. For a moment, she contemplated following him. It was better than staying here, but…

What if they were already on their way? It might be doing more harm than good to leave now. They might be needed. These thoughts held Rogue in her place but she knew they weren't enough to make John stay. She hurried to find a reason.

"What about Kitty?" she implored to his retreating back. He stiffened, and for a moment she thought he'd actually stay.

But then, "Tell her…I'm sorry that I'm breaking my promise."

And then he was gone.

-x-

"Charles?"

"Stop."

Silence.

"Charles."

"Stop. Please…stop."

A soft hand touched his cheek, but he refused to open his eyes.

"Charles…please."

He barricaded his mind. He wouldn't go through that again. He couldn't look at her.

"Charles."

The hand disappeared. He relaxed minutely. That was a mistake. He felt a siege on his brain, like a hand gripping it fiercely, and despite his already closed eyes he felt darkness claim him.

-x-

Jason sat calmly in his seat. If it wasn't for the occasional blink of the eyes, one would think he was dead. No movement was made on his part as he sat in his chair, nothing that would indicate what was actually going on in his mind.

The Professor was a strong-willed man, very difficult to break compared to his previous opponents. His mental walls were held up well and Jason expected nothing less. However his daddy needed this done and he would see it through no matter what.

The girl with the blue skin and the blonde disguise was the perfect illusion. Even though the Professor had already seen through it, the girl's image had the ability to sneak past his guard every time. No matter how hard he tried, the Professor couldn't let her go and Jason used that to his advantage.

With a sudden seize of strength Jason managed to wrench the control away from the Professor, opening the older man's mind to his influence. It was like a floodgate, and Jason immediately grabbed onto the closest and strongest thought buried deep within-

-x-

"Charles? What are you doing?"

He glanced up from his desk where papers were scattered about to where his best friend stood in the doorway.

"Well, Erik, someone has to take care of this school and its finances, and it's obviously not going to be you or Raven." He hid his smile as he shuffled the stack in front of him.

Erik scoffed and walked farther into the room, "As I recall you were the one who claimed he was the best candidate for the job, so everything after that you only have yourself to blame, my friend," he smirked.

"Ha ha," Charles deadpanned. He picked his pen up again and turned back down to write.

"Charles you are needed somewhere else at the moment, actually," Erik said, crossing his arms across his chest.

Glancing through his hair, Charles gave him a curious look, "Where? Why?"

Erik just stared back at him, not moving an inch. After a few moments of nothing, Charles let out a giant sigh, and flopped backwards into his seat. Running a hand through his hair he forced himself onto his feet, knowing Erik wouldn't tell him.

"Alright, what is it that needs my 'undivided' attention?" He followed his friend out of his office door and almost ran into a familiar blonde.

"I believe that would be me," Raven teased. As she pivoted on her heel, she hooked her arm through his, proceeding to drag him through the hallways with Erik trailing behind them leisurely, hands in his pockets and a smirk once again in place.

"Raven, where are we going?" Charles laughed as he allowed her to continue to pull him along. She merely giggled and tugged on his arm some more, kissing him quickly on the cheek.

"It's a surprise," she whispered in his ear. After that he followed without a word, only a stupid grin adorned his face. He didn't need to look back to see Erik shaking his head in amusement.

After a few more turns he found himself standing in front of Cerebro's entrance.

'I always thought it'd be beneath the school,' he thought absentmindedly. Instead, he said, "Why are we here, love?" He turned to look down at her; without her heels she was a few inches shorter than him.

"We've been looking for this mutant for awhile now, and we think we've narrowed it down," she started as he leaned down to open the door via eye scan. The doors swished open and all three were walking down the ramp to the console in the middle of the room. "We just want to make sure we've got the right one," she finished up as she smiled sweetly at him. He returned it as he picked up the helmet.

"Need my help, yea?" he teased.

"Always," she murmured as she took the helmet from his hands and placed it gently on him herself. She kissed him gently before moving away from him.

"So where am I looking?" he asked, getting ready to begin.

Erik took a step forward and Charles waited patiently.

A beat. And then:

"Everywhere," Erik muttered lowly.

Seeing nothing wrong with that, Charles nodded his head and _focused_-

-x-

Jason sat behind the Professor a few paces back on the ramp. He watched silently as the Professor picked up the helmet for Cerebro and placed it over his head. He watched as the machine seemed to come alive beneath the Professor's powers and he knew he had done his father proud. It would happen; this was working.

The plan was working.

-x-

Rogue continued to pace inside the jet, wondering furiously what her next move should be. John had left only a few minutes ago and he couldn't have gotten far. Should they go after him? She was sure she could track him down and forcibly drag him back if need be.

She paused near the windshield before rotating on her heel to begin the process again. Only-

A sudden pain washed over her, her mind blaring with alarms and panic. She struggled to breathe as it claimed her and felt her knees buckle and the ground rushed up to her. She gripped her hair in her gloved hands, trying to alleviate the agony but nothing seemed to be working. The wailing in her head blocked out the rest of the voices and she couldn't even find it within herself to look at Bobby to see whether or not he was okay. The pain was so much, _too much, it was just like Liberty Island-!_

She opened her mouth and _screamed_.

-x-

John writhed on the snow, clutching his head in a desperate attempt to lessen the pounding in his skull. He felt like he was _dying_, what was this? He tossed and turned, but was unable to stop everything from _hurting_. He gasped for breath, but nothing seemed forthcoming.

Thoughts of Kitty pushed themselves to the forefront of his mind then and he idly wondered if she'd even miss him when he was gone. Would she even care? Would anyone care?

It was more than a little ironic that if he really was dying that it was out in the wilderness, alone. Looks like he was never meant to be loved. That was fine with him. The less people around, the less people to see him show any weakness.

He bit his tongue to hold back the scream that crept up his throat.

-x-

Kitty was sure she was breaking Jubes's skin but at the moment she was too busy trying to keep her head from exploding to care.

The children were all on the ground, some crying and some silent and curled in a ball. Kitty couldn't do anything to help them; she was as helpless as they were in this situation and she could only manage to continue ripping into Jubilee's arm.

Her friend was hunched over, her fingers raked through her hair and digging into her scalp. Kitty worried for a brief moment that her friend would accidentally rip her hair out if she wasn't careful but then the pain seemed to strengthen and she couldn't think anything after that.

-x-

Raven couldn't control her mutation as the screaming continued to lace through her head and her skin rippled quickly in succession. She waited impatiently for Erik to finally break down the door and once he did it took everything in her to not slump to the ground. Charles was always strong, but she had never had his mutation turned against her like that. She took a few breaths to regain her composure before wearily standing up.

Erik was doing his part, and now it was time for hers. She sauntered over, her appearance changing into Stryker seamlessly. She leaned down next to Jason and whispered her words softly about the change in plans.

She looked up at Erik and felt a pang of satisfaction and something else when she saw his pleased expression. She couldn't help but turn her gaze to beyond him and the pang turned into something ugly and twisting when she caught sight of the familiar jacket shoulder.

She forced herself to keep calm and stuffed her emotions far, far down below. Fluidly standing tall, she turned on her heel and marched out the door as herself, her expression as blank as she could make it.

It was time to leave.

-x-

_Okay, I'm gonna leave it there for now so it looks like I've been updating at a semi-decent pace ahaha (I'm so sorry) anyway, I hope you liked it, please let me know. I have been a bit busy but just know that this fic is definitely on my To Do List. I'll probably be updating a lot more around when DOFP comes out but for now bear with me :) Thanks for sticking with me so far. __I'm trying to add bits that deviate from the movie a little, but trying to still keep with the events that did occur. Does that make sense? I hope it's alright._


	8. Chapter 8

_Quick note- The parts where there are noticeable breaks in narrative is where I'm jumping around. The breaks will be where actual canon comes in. The only time I'm gonna bring them in is if I need to bring it in to tweak something for a character, like their thoughts. Example would be where I left off Wolvie meeting Stryker, I'm doing a break after that to where it starts up in this chapter as saying the fight between him and Lady Deathstrike still happened the way it did in the film. Does that make sense? I sure hope it does…anyway, on with the story :)_

_(Also I've gone over this chapter as many times as I can, but I just can't look at it anymore, so please excuse any errors. This ones a long one, so I hope ya'll enjoy :))_

-x-

Chapter 8:

Kitty looked around in confusion as she tried to catch her breath. What had happened? The intense pain, it- it just…stopped. She glanced at Jubilee but her friend looked just as bewildered as she felt.

The kids started to pick themselves up and Kitty forced herself into action, Jubilee on her heels. Both girls made sure everyone was alright and not injured before wondering what they should do now. Kitty's eyes moved towards the electric fence. Maybe it had shorted out during that time? Was it worth the risk?

She glanced back at the small group, weighing the options. She couldn't leave them alone, what if something happened and she had knocked herself out by walking straight into a charged wall? No, she wouldn't risk it.

And it turns out she didn't have to.

As she looked one more time at the fence she could see someone moving towards them. She squinted, trying to get a better look, to see who it was and whether they were friend or foe. They were running now, seeming to already recognize her and she braced herself for whatever was to come.

But then she saw their faces.

"Storm!" Kitty gasped, stepping forward and almost forgetting at the last second to stop before hitting the electric fence that stood between them.

"Kitty?" The older woman sprinted the rest of the way, an unfamiliar blue man a little behind her. Kitty felt Jubilee, who had moved closer since hearing their teacher's name, grab her arm. The kids had heard as well and were now shouting happily at the prospect of getting out of there.

Storm stopped in front of their bars, "Kitty, Jubilee, this is Kurt. He's going to help you out of there, okay?"

Kitty barely had time to nod before the man was gone in a cloud of blue smoke. She choked on a gasp when he reappeared next to her.

"Holy shi-"

"_Jubilation Lee_."

"Sorry, Storm."

"Guten tag," Kurt smiled timidly, before holding his arms out. "Please, grab hold."

Kitty glanced back at Storm who nodded in confirmation. Taking a deep breath, she took hold of his arm and watched Jubes do the same. Other kids came rushing over, taking a hold of his arms and wherever else they could.

"Everyone holding tight?" he asked.

Everyone made noises of affirmation, and suddenly they were enveloped in darkness. Kitty blinked and found herself next to Storm on the other side of the fence. After everyone let go, Kurt repeated the process for the other few kids left inside. Once they were all free, Storm gestured for them to follow her.

"Come, this way. We need to hurry."

And then they were moving as far away from the fence as they could.

-x-

Rogue drew in ragged breaths as she lay on the floor. After the screaming ceased and the pain stopped the voices all came flooding back at once and she had to sift through them again to find her bearings. Erik was saying over and over that it had been Charles who had done that and something was very wrong and Logan just wanted her _to move_, to get away from there before it could get her again. Bobby and John were making a lot of noise but the older men were a lot louder.

She could barely sit up at first, much less run out of the jet, so she stayed immobile for a moment, taking deep breaths. As she calmed them down and reassembled them back in their proper place, she tried to figure out a plan.

She could hear the real Bobby in the background as he got up from where he'd fallen. His quick footsteps echoed in the small space as he made his way over to her, asking if she was alright. She nodded absently and started to lift herself slowly to her feet.

She knew things were still in play and that the others probably couldn't contact them if they needed help. But she couldn't shake the feeling that she needed to move the plane, she needed to get closer. Logan was itching in the back of her mind, and her instincts were flaring for her to do _something_. She bit her lip, weighing her options.

She could try flying the plane, she supposed…but could she actually _do it_?

Erik in her mind confirmed that even if she couldn't technically fly it, she could still _control_ it. The jet was made of metal, as were the engines. If she had that to help her then she should be fine. _Hopefully_, that is.

She took another deep breath, making her decision.

She always did like trying new things, she supposed.

-x-

John stumbled through the trees, his head still aching from the echoes of the earlier pain. His blood rushed through his ears, loud and unforgiving. He tried to catch his breath, but the icy snow surrounding his legs was a shock to his system. He _really_ didn't like cold climates. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he trudged on.

Not even a couple of minutes later he stopped again. He strained his ears as he thought he heard something up ahead. It sounded like…a helicopter?

He quickened his pace and found himself at the edge of the tree line. There, in front of him, was where the source of the noise came from. When he squinted he could see that guy, Magneto, and that blue chick about to lift off.

'_You are a god among insects. Never let them tell you anything different._'

He clenched his jaw. Should he?

Brown eyes flashed in his mind.

'_I trust you. You better come back._'

The lighter in his pocket burned against his leg. The blades started up, picking up speed. He held his breath.

And took a step forward.

'_Kitty…_I promise_.__We will..._I_ will find you again._'

_I'm sorry, Kitten. I can't come back._

-x-

Kitty was running down the hallway, bringing up the rear of the group and making sure no one got left behind. She followed as they took a sharp corner and suddenly stopped. From up ahead she could see a circular doorway, one that looked eerily similar.

"What is that?" she heard Jubilee ask.

"Cerebro," Storm breathed out.

Shock bloomed in Kitty's chest as pieces started coming together in her mind. The pain from earlier, it originated in their heads and Cerebro was controlled by one person and that was-

_The Professor._

They had the Professor.

The news hit Kitty hard and she was suddenly very aware of how close they came to dying earlier. If what she remembered about the Professor's mutation was correct then it's a miracle that he stopped when he did, otherwise they might not be here right now.

Footsteps from around the corner tore her from her thoughts, and Kitty readied herself for a fight. Her body still ached from her previous encounters with the fence, but she would do whatever it took to keep everyone else safe.

Whoever it was came closer and Kitty turned to face them. However, she wasn't prepared for who it was.

"Storm!" she called.

Kitty dragged her eyes away from the sight of Jean leaning heavily on Scott to Storm, who spun around at the sound of her name. The weather goddess shoulders sagged with relief and seemed to let out a deep breath as her friends moved through the children to the front of the group. Her eyes darted from one to the other, resting on Scott's face a little longer before finally turning back to the red head.

"Jean, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," the other woman brushed off any concerns before focusing on door. Kitty slowly stepped closer, trying to get a better view. She ended up next to Jubes who linked her arm through hers. Kitty squeezed and then listened as Jean continued to speak.

"The Professor is still in there, but he's…trapped, with another mutant." She paused, concentrating, "He's in some sort of illusion."

Something seemed to reveal itself to her because she let out a gasp, "Magneto's reversed Cerebro. It's not targeting mutants anymore."

Kitty felt her heart beat faster, worry began to race through her veins.

"Who is it targeting?" Storm asked.

"Everyone else."

-x-

Charles had heard Raven's encouragement in his ear and then her soft words explaining there had been a change in plans. He had immediately set about fixing it, focusing on finding the humans, her soft breath still warm against his cheek. Her arms wrapped around his waist from behind and he leaned into her, his body responding while his mind continued to stay completely on the task at hand. He could feel his mind linking with everyone else through Cerebro and he continued to focus on them, not letting up one bit as her hands strayed over his chest.

He felt her head move against his back, the fabric bunching as she clutched it tightly.

"Keep focusing, Charles," she whispered into his neck.

"I will, love."

He vaguely heard Erik in the back moving around, but didn't pay much more attention to him other than that. He continued to locate everyone and press forward with his thoughts. He began to get lost within his mission, with only Raven's arms to keep him anchored. He couldn't tell how much time had passed when suddenly he felt a breeze.

…a breeze?

There wasn't wind in this place. Where on Earth-?

Charles twitched and he felt Raven's arms tighten around him.

"Charles, focus," she pressed.

He settled down only barely when another breeze wafted through. He tried to move, to turn around but her fingers turned into talons and curled tightly into the fabric of his shirt.

"Don't," she begged.

"Raven…"

"Charles, please, just…keep focusing. You need to. Please."

But then it was cold. Colder than it normally was in this room and Charles knew something was wrong. His hands moved from the console to her hands, gripping them strongly.

"Raven-!"

"Charles, please!"

He struggled, unable to pull free and unable to hurt her and still unable to stop his focus. His mind pulled back only a little, but his thoughts still continued to find the humans.

Raven let out a scream, burying her face into his shoulder blades.

"Raven!"

"Stop it!" she shrieked, but he had the feeling she wasn't speaking to him. Her fingernails dug into his chest before ripping away abruptly.

Something wet and small flurried about his face and he finally wrenched his eyes open, realizing belatedly that they had been closed that entire time.

It was snowing.

And then he came back to himself.

With a sharp cry and a bodily jerk, he felt his mind situate itself back into reality. Taking in his surroundings, he remembered what was happening and what he had been doing.

"Jason!" he gasped, his hands clenching the armrests of the wheelchair.

It was Raven's voice he heard once more, "He's gonna be so angry at me!" her voice was filled with pain and despite what he _knew_ he still felt a deep twisting pang in his chest. She screamed in agony and that was when he felt something release around him.

Using that chance to finally move, he ripped the helmet from his head, the cheap imitation of Cerebro now blatant and the illusion created by Jason completely shattered. Erik was not there. Raven was nowhere to be seen. And despite himself, he felt something within him break once more.

They were never there.

Only Storm and another mutant stood behind Jason. It was then that he realized the room was shaking and the walls were collapsing. Charles turned his chair fully around, facing Jason head on. He made complete eye contact with Jason, unable to find the words to say. Despite everything that had occurred, it still broke his heart to see his former student like this.

He continued to hold eye contact as bits of building fell down around them. Even as the other mutant transported himself right in front of him, Charles did not move his gaze.

But in a blink, Jason was gone, and so was he.

-x-

Logan rushed through the halls, trying to find the exit as hell rained down around him. The dam was going to break any second and flood this bunker so he couldn't afford to waste any time. They had to get out of here- _now_. His footsteps thundered against the ground as he made no move to be cautious about it anymore.

He rounded a corner and found himself in the main room where the giant doors to the outside led. He could see Storm and Jean and the rest of the crew on the other side of the doors, and his ears could pick up the loud rumble of water as it rushed at top speed towards them. With one glance to his right he made a split decision and slammed his claws into the console beside him. Electricity flew about him but he could hear the doors closing and he kept up the force behind his arm, not letting up until they closed at last. Water managed to funnel through at the cracks, but once the doors were fully sealed, nothing got through.

"Trust me," he yelled over to them to get their attention, "You don't wanna go that way. Come on, there's another exit!"

He waited as they quickly made their way over to him before setting off again.

They made it out of the maze in record time and found themselves ankle deep in snow. A small boy fell down, his bare feet unable to function properly in the cold and Logan leaned down to scoop him up into his arms, not stopping his long stride towards where he last saw Stryker and the helicopter.

Only…they weren't there anymore.

He stared in disbelief, horror welling up inside him, "But it was right here! The helicopter was here!"

He took deep breaths, trying to think. There had to be an explanation, there just had to-

His ears twitched.

The sound of engines, the air moved in the trees, a shift in the corner of his eye. He turned and choked on a gasp as the X-Jet flew over the woods. And he knew exactly who was at the helm.

'That's my girl,' he felt pride rumble in his chest as the jet flew closer, but it was quickly replaced with panic when it made a sharp turn in the air.

She was having a tough time landing.

He cursed under his breath, hoping she'd at least make it down safely if she had to crash. The jet went sideways and landed against the ground a couple of yards away, snow flying up at the impact. He let go of the breath he'd been holding.

He felt the presence of someone next to him and saw Kitty and Jubilee, the latter bundled up in a blanket.

"Logan, who-?" Kitty began and he knew exactly what she was asking.

"Rogue and the boys," he answered. Her eyes lit up in response and he resisted the urge to smile. She immediately started running to the jet, Jubilee on her tail, with the others following. Nightcrawler disappeared in a puff of smoke with the Professor and Logan took a step forward as well when something down the line of trees caught his eye. He clenched his jaw at the sight of Stryker chained to a piece of wall, knowing exactly who put him there. The instinct to go and question him niggled at him, but he once again resisted it. He was done with that part of his life. Let the bastard rot.

Logan glanced from the broken man of his past to the child in his arms. The kid's wide eyes stared back up at him, waiting for his decision. Despite not knowing him at all, Logan knew this kid understood.

He smirked and stepped towards the jet, leaving Stryker behind.

-x-

Rogue's hands refused to cooperate at first, they were trembling so uncontrollably. She could barely let go of the steering wheel and she knew her body was still in shock from what had just occurred.

She couldn't believe she had done that. What was she thinking?

Thank God she actually made it though, she supposed. She knew something in the jet broke on her way down, but before she could assess the damage she was almost scared out of her skin when Kurt popped up next to her.

He laid the Professor down in one of the chairs behind her and she tried focusing once more on lowering her heart rate. A hand lowered gently onto her shoulders, as though approaching a wild animal and a hysterical laugh bubbled up in her throat. However she knew she'd look crazy so she squashed it immediately.

It was Storm, and she gently coaxed Rogue away from the controllers.

"You did good, Rogue. I'll take it from here."

Rogue could only nod before standing on shaking legs. Thoughts of fixing or even locating what was wrong with the plane flew from her mind. She stumbled towards the back of the aircraft, only to hear someone else call her name.

"Rogue!" Kitty exclaimed, halting her sprint as she stepped over the threshold. She was panting loudly as her eyes roamed the inside of the jet and Rogue felt her heart drop as she realized why.

"Where-?" Kitty looked from her to Bobby then back. Jubes finally caught up to them, trying to catch her breath as she clutched the blanket falling around her shoulders. Rogue ran forward to hug them both and they met her with equal enthusiasm.

But despite her happiness to see them, Kitty wouldn't be deterred. Rogue bit her lip nervously, not looking forward to the next bit.

"Where's John?"

Rogue exchanged uneasy glances with Bobby.

"Where is he?" Kitty demanded.

Rogue took a deep breath before answering. "He's gone."

Kitty looked shocked, like she was unable to process what she just said. "What do you mean he's gone?" a cold trickle of fear ran down her spine.

"He left the plane a while ago, before we moved it." Rogue shook her head, "I don't know where he is, Kitty-"

"Then we have to go looking for him!" her friend interrupted. By this time everyone had made it to the plane and were settling in to leave. Kitty pivoted on her heel and marched to the closest exit, which turned out to be the wall for her. One arm went straight through the strong metal and she was fully ready to just slip outside when Jean spoke up, causing her to freeze.

"You won't be able to find him."

Kitty stared at her from her position, her limbs still halfway out the jet. "Why not?" she croaked, her fist visibly trembling at her side and Rogue feared what Jean was about to say.

"He's with Magneto now," the red head stated, her voice somber and her eyes far away as she saw something only she could.

A broken sob escaped Kitty, and Rogue's heart ripped to shreds as her friend's body crumpled on itself. She and Jubilee moved forward and caught her, gently moving her to the back of the jet and letting her curl into a ball. Jubilee cradled Kitty to her, and Rogue smoothed back her hair as she began to cry.

The rest of the group was silent for a moment.

Rogue glanced up and caught Logan's eye, a frown marring his expression. Her heart sunk even farther.

A sudden and excited beeping cut the silence at the knees. Rogue looked over as Scott and Storm fussed over the console, and it was then that she remembered that feeling of something not being right when she landed.

The jet wasn't working.

And that was when they lost power. The entire jet shut down and Rogue felt a tingling sensation at the back of her neck. She looked over to the door that was now open.

And saw Jean limping out of it.

'What is she doing?' she wondered.

'_It doesn't matter_,' Erik spoke up, '_Right now you need to get up there and do what you can._'

'_Buckethead's right, darlin'. Red can wait a few moments, you need to figure out what's wrong and get out of here._'

Rogue smoothed back Kitty's hair, and after sharing one last look with Jubilee she stood up and made her way to the front.

"Here," she maneuvered to the console. "Let me try something."

"Try what, honey? We don't have time for this-"

But Rogue had already placed her hands down onto the machine and closed her eyes, concentrating hard. She tried locating the error in the system, letting Erik guide her through it as she allowed his powers to flow through her.

'There!' she found it. And right as she was about to put it back together something hit her...mentally.

She gasped hard at the sensation. Something, or someone was doing something to the jet. She felt the interior fixing itself below her fingers.

"Wha-?"

"Jean?" the Professor questioned. All eyes turned to him, then around the area where the redhead obviously wasn't.

"Where is she?" Scott worried. "Jean?" he called out, hoping she was within ear shot.

"She went outside," Rogue mentioned softly, wondering exactly what the woman's motives were.

Scott immediately made a dash for the exit, but the door slammed in his face. The jet burst to life then, all systems coming back online and every switch flipped to its proper place. Rogue's hands fluttered above it, unable to process what was happening.

'What was she doing?'

Scott spun around, "No! We are not leaving!" he assumed they were the ones doing it. "Lower the ramp!"

Sense hit her and Rogue slammed her hands back down on the console, ready to force the ramp down if she had to.

But Jean was too strong.

'What is this? Her power was never like this before.'

Erik hummed in the back of her mind, but she didn't have time to decipher it.

"Lower it now!" Scott was pushing at the floor desperately at this point. The steering wheel took on a life of its own and lowered in Storm's lap, ready to lift the jet into the air.

"I can't!" she screamed.

A massive force hit the side of the aircraft and everyone grasped at what they could to keep themselves level. Rogue gripped the dashboard before transferring her hands to the passenger seat. She looked out the window to where she could see Jean's small figure.

The dam had broke. And she was holding it back.

"She's controlling the jet!" Storm shouted, still trying to get the machine to work for her.

Scott ran back to the front, pushing Rogue aside to get a better look. She let him, and came to stand beside Kurt. Logan turned to him, "You! Can you go get her?"

She felt rather than saw Kurt jerk, but his body remained where it stood. "She's not letting me!" he cried apologetically.

"_I know what I'm doing. This is the only way._"

Everyone turned to see the Professor with his eyes closed. But it wasn't his voice that emanated from his lips.

"Jean!" Scott fell to the floor in front of Charles. "Listen to me!" he dragged in a breath, holding back his emotions, "_Please_…don't do this!"

Charles tilted his head towards the other man, his eyes still closed. His lips curled into a soft, fond smile.

"_Goodbye._"

Scott gasped and clutched at the Professor's suit, "No!"

Logan grabbed Scott and pulled him back. Rogue could see Charles come back to himself, his expression immediately falling into one of despair. As the plane lifted into the air she looked once more out the window and saw something that shocked her to the bone.

Jean was on fire.

It was only for a moment that she saw it, before the water engulfed her completely, but Rogue knew what she saw.

'_What in the world-?_'

'_There are many things you don't understand, Rogue. This is only one of them,_' Erik warned.

'_What is she?_'

Before he could answer her, if he was going to at all, the real Logan's voice ripped her from her thoughts.

"She's gone."

Scott flew into a fury, "No! She's not gone! We have to go back! We have to-!" he fell against Logan, shoving him and pushing him, taking his anger and frustration and hurt out on him. Rogue wondered how much more her heart could break in just one day.

Scott's heart wrenching cries filled the jet, striking everyone as they wallowed in their own despair at the loss of a loved one. Rogue's gaze connected with Logan's, who eyes were bloodshot and full of so much sadness. She felt tears build at the back of her throat and wished she could go to him.

"She's gone," he repeated over and over again.

"_She's gone._"

-x-

_Okay so next chapter should be the last for this particular story. I already have a sequel in the works and I've had some of the first chapter done since before the second chapter of this one so xD I'm so happy everyone has been liking this story so far, it's really been helping me continue. Thank you so much for your continued subscription, it means so much to me :) I hope you liked this chapter as much as I liked writing it and I'm so sorry for the delay. DOFP, which comes out this Friday eeeeeep!, really inspired me to work on this more so yay~ :)_

**_EDIT- I lied. This is the last chapter. The next for this series will be the sequel, so be on the lookout for that. I'm sorry, but I just realized I can't really go anywhere with this other than basic canon and that'd be just boring. So...yea_**


	9. Author's Note- Sequel Posted

_**A quick A/N**_: I have posted the first chapter of the sequel. It's called 'Let It All Burn' :) I hope ya'll enjoy, go check it out!


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